Betty Smart

Betty Smart, age 91, of Kilgore, Longview, and Dallas, Texas passed away on June, 22, 2024. Betty was born on October 11, 1932, in Camden, Arkansas. She lived there until age 10, when her father was called up to serve in the reserves during World War II. After the war, her family moved to Trieste, Italy where she learned to speak a little Italian and also travel Europe. On one of her trips, Betty was able to meet Pope Pius the XII.

In 1950, after a harrowing return trip across the Atlantic, she enrolled in college at North Texas State University and studied business. She worked for a Professor of English whose students were required to memorize and recite poetry to Betty. On one occasion a student recited Elizabeth Barrett Browning's famous poem, "How Do I Love Thee." That student, Kenneth Smart, would later propose to Betty on the banks of the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, Texas. They were married for nearly 67 years until Kenneth's death in 2020.

During the Korean War, Ken and Betty moved to Baltimore, Maryland while Kenneth was serving there as part of a counter-intelligence unit. They moved back to Texas in 1956 and raised two children, settling primarily in Dallas and Kilgore for the next 60 years, with brief periods spent living in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Weatherford, Texas.

Betty was active in church throughout her life, serving for decades as a Sunday School teacher of 2nd graders and for many years as financial secretary. She was also engaged in a variety of community organizations. She and Kenneth loved to travel and made dozens of trips in the U.S. and abroad with friends and family members.

Betty easily made new friends throughout her life and loved activities such as playing bridge and knitting. After moving into an assisted living facility, she started a knitting group that made hats for children, cancer patients, and the homeless. She served as an ambassador at CC Young, welcoming new residents in her senior living community and helping them adjust to their new surroundings.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth Smart; and parents, Robert Francis and Malva Lee Burns.

She is survived by her children, Kathy Bethune and husband Gary, and Scott Smart and wife Susan; grandchildren, Sara McLaughlin and husband Callan, Rachel Dunlap and husband Don, Mary Anne Smart, and Robert Smart; great-grandchildren, Camden and Myla McLaughlin; and sister-in-law Eugenia Childress.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024 at the C.C. Young Senior Living Community located at 4849 W. Lawther Drive in Dallas, TX.