Obituary of Betty Miller White

Betty Louise (Miller) White entered into Heaven on October 10, 2019.  Born in Palmyra, Pennsylvania on July 17, 1927, Betty was the only child of Henry Levi and Nell Maxine (Sudduth) Miller.  Her father was an electrician at the Hershey Chocolate plant in neighboring Hershey, Pennsylvania and her mother was an executive secretary for the Hershey Chocolate Corporation.  During high school and college Betty worked summers at the plant doing assembly line work and leading tours.  

After earning a Bachelor’s degree from Wilson College in 1949, Betty taught school in Hershey for one year and then moved to Washington DC. She loved the excitement of living and working in DC but accepted a direct commission from the United States Air Force in 1953 and drove herself to training in Texas, a strong and independent woman. 

Betty met the love of her life and fellow Air Force officer, Robert (Bob) Hughey White, at Travis Air Force Base in California. They married five months later. Bob and Betty enjoyed just shy of fifty years of marriage, raising five children and living all over the world including assignments in Ecuador and Norway.  Having been honorably discharged from the Air Force prior to the birth of her first child, Betty devoted herself to raising their children, encouraging participation in school, church and extra-curricular activities. She was a leader and trainer for Girl Scouts and was actively involved in the Officer’s Wives Club. Betty instilled her love of the arts, respect for humanity, importance of volunteering and appreciation of different cultures in her children. 

Shortly after Bob retired in 1970 at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, Betty began work as an administrative assistant to the Dean of Admissions at Midwestern State University. She retired just as she became a grandmother for the first time. In retirement Bob and Betty continued traveling across the U.S. and abroad, often to play in bridge tournaments and eventually becoming Grand Life Masters.  They also did volunteer work at Interfaith Ministries and continued to be active members of Fain Presbyterian Church.  As an avid reader, bridge player and volunteer, Betty kept herself busy after the death of her husband when she moved to Trinity Terrace in Fort Worth, Texas in 2004. 

Betty is survived by her daughter, Beth Doyle and husband Barclay (Grapevine); son, Tom White and wife Maria (Waco); daughter, Nancy White and husband Mike Proctor (Dallas); daughter, Theresa White and Jan Archer (Denton); daughter, Barb Melton and husband Jim (Wichita Falls); stepsons, Bob White and wife Donna and Steve White and wife Mary; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, step grandchildren and step great-grandchildren. 

Services will be held at Trinity Terrace, on November 18, 2019 at 10:30 A.M., followed by internment at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.