Betty Cross Morris

LUBBOCK-Betty Cross Morris passed away on May 3, 2013. She was born in 1922 to the late Dr. and Mrs. D. D. Cross in Wellington, Texas. She and her parents moved to Lubbock in 1926. Betty attended Lubbock schools and graduated from Lubbock High School. She graduated from Baylor University in 1944, where she was an active member in Athenians, a social sorority that later became Delta Gamma. That same year, Betty and Jim were married in the First United Methodist Church of Lubbock. She was a lifelong member of the church, and she loved being a part of her Questers Sunday School Class. Volunteerism was an important part of Betty’s life. She served on the boards and as presidents of the Junior League of Lubbock, the Lubbock Women’s Club, the Lubbock Medical Auxiliary, Women’s Council of the Museum, West Texas Hospital Auxiliary, the Lubbock Heritage Society, Chapter AK P.E.O. (where she was a Golden Girl), and the Questers Sunday School Class. She was a Republican precinct chairman. She served on the Sherick Board as well as Planned Parenthood Board. She was part owner of Serendipity Travel. Betty was not only a beautiful, gracious and elegant woman; she was also strong, determined and adventurous. In 1946 she earned her pilot’s license and flew her husband and friend from Houston to Lubbock, so impressing her father that he bought a plane and took lessons himself. She traveled the world with her daughters, Anne and Catherine. The three of them went to many countries including Egypt, the Soviet Union, Scandinavia, Greece, Caribbean countries, China, Japan, Spain, England, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, and Venezuela, to name a few. Being a selfless woman, Betty always put the needs of her family and friends ahead of her own. Her warmth, tenderness and loving spirit will be missed, but will remain in the hearts of her friends and family forever. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Denzil and Bess Cross, her husband of 67 years, James G. Morris and her grandson, James Gerald Morris. She is survived by her four children, son, James D. Morris and wife, Helen; son, Craig Morris and wife, Donna; daughter, Anne Hazlewood and husband, David; and daughter, Catherine Mitchell; four grandchildren, Beckie Morris, wife of James Gerald Morris, John David Hazlewood, Justin Morris and wife, April, Amanda Heffley and husband, Andrew, and Jerry Glenn Mitchell; and five great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held on Monday, May 6, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sanders Funeral Home, 1420 Main Street, Lubbock, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at the First United Methodist Church, 1411 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas.