BETTY JEAN TODD MAY
09/26/1935 - 09/01/2023
Betty Jean Todd May passed away on Friday, the 1st of September 2023. She was 87 years of age.
She was born on the 26th of September 1935, to Alice Gordon Dudley Todd and Charles Brock Todd in Los Angeles, California where she grew up. She attended Mt. Vernon Junior High School where she was elected May Queen in June of 1950 as part of an annual full day celebration of sports activities at the school. In 1952, she met the love of her life, Alan May, at Los Angeles High School and she followed him to U. C. L. A. in 1953. She pledged Kappa Alpha Theta in 1954 and was elected president of her pledge class. She was the only one in her sorority who was working her way through college. She worked as a nighttime telephone operator at AT&T.
In June of 1956, Alan and Betty began the adventure of their lives. Alan became an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to a post in the Philippines for two years. He was to report to San Francisco in early July, which meant a very fast marriage and lots of shopping, packing and medical visits. But on the 29th of June, they were ready. They were married in the lovely Episcopal Church at the top of U.C.L.A.’s Sorority Row with family and close friends present.
Then, that same night, they headed north to San Francisco, and from there, they left for Manila. There were no jets then, so they traveled on military planes whenever they were available and the grueling trip took two weeks. While in Manila, Betty took a job typing for the U. S. Air Force Intelligence unit, but still found time to go shopping with Alan and their Navy friends in Hong Kong.
In 1958, they returned to Los Angeles where Alan joined the accounting firm of Lybrand, Ross Brothers and
Montgomery, (now known as PWC) and Betty went to work for Tidewater Oil Company. In 1960, their first child, Laurie Ann, was born and Betty became a stay at home mom. In 1963, Jennifer Lynn was born.
In 1969, Alan became a partner in the firm and the family was transferred to Dallas. In 1978, they made their last move when the firm (PWC) transferred Alan to Houston.
Betty loved old movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age and she collected a large number of her favorites. She read constantly, especially historical biographies. She also took up petit point as a hobby. Her beautiful tapestries adorn the walls of their home.
Betty and Alan loved to dance and were long time members of a dance club, and they loved the theatre and the Houston Orchestra pop concerts. They also loved to travel, and made many trips all over the world: the Caribbean, Hawaii, the South Pacific, Australia, and many countries in Europe and Asia. Although Betty was diagnosed with lupus in the early 1980s and was frequently ill, she loved to travel to the far-away places with “strange sounding names.”
Betty is survived by her husband, Alan; her daughters, Laurie and Jennifer; and her African Grey parrot, Miss Harvey Ann, age 39.
At Betty’s request, there will be no services.