Betty Opal (Williams) Pruett

A celebration in her honor will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, February 24, 2019, at First Baptist Church in Slidell, Texas. Family will receive friends 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Saturday at Hawkins Funeral Home in Decatur.

Betty Opal Williams Pruett was born January 24, 1927 to Earl Nix and Elsie Margaret (Elliott) Williams in Claude, Texas. She grew up in Ponder and attended school at Ponder, Greenwood and Slidell. In 1944, after her junior year of high school, she married Charles Elmer Pruett. They lived in Gainesville where he guarded German POW’s and she worked in the laundromat for the Army Camp. After the war, they moved to Slidell and ran the Slidell General Store. In 1959, she became a single parent with 2 kids to raise and no high school diploma. She found a job candling eggs for Wilson Egg Farm in Decatur. Two years later, she found a job working at M&B Sewing Room in Denton. In 1972, she obtained her GED and went on to earn her Associates Degree from Cook County College. She worked 64 hours a week and went to school at the same time. She worked for Slidell ISD as the superintendent’s secretary/business manager/ tax assessor-collector and dispatch for TWU Security Policy. During the 20 years with Slidell ISD, she worked for 9 different superintendents, Jimmy Horn, Willard Aston, J. Coleman Stanfield, James Copeland, Rosie Rosebure, Tommy Hudspeth, Charles Larson, Dan Jones and Elizabeth Treadway. She helped countless students and faculty members every day for those 20 years.

In her young days she wanted to be a racecar driver. Her grandchildren say that she practiced often on FM 1173, setting the cruise control and never touching the brake as she went around Schulter’s corner. Her favorite sport was Slidell Basketball, watching her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren wear orange and blue. Her favorite song is Amazing Grace and favorite Bible verse is John 3:16.

While going through her belongings a list was found of 28 thoughts…Never stop dreaming. Always love. Collect moments and memories, not things. One thing that wasn’t on the list was something she practiced, “Always eat dessert first”, but this is a close second, A party without cake is just a meeting.

Her quick wit, biblical wisdom, and generous love will be missed by all who knew her. Just remember, if you knew Betty Opal, you were loved.

Betty Opal was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Margaret Jo Williams, Doris Mae Williams Claborn, and Norma Jean Williams Linegar; her brothers, Walter Earl “Bud” Williams, Clarence Wayne Williams, and Ray Nix Williams, her niece, Zona Gail Williams; her sister-in-law, Shirley Williams; and her brother-in-law, V.M. Claborn.

Those left behind to cherish her memory are her daughter, Irene Pruett Wilson of Slidell; her son, Charles Ray Pruett of Greenwood; her grandchildren, Shannon Colette Wilson Mayer and husband Jimmy, Rhonda Dawn Wilson Weathers and husband Matthew, Cody Wade Wilson and wife Lauren Carmela Fleming Wilson, Jana Rae Pruett Tipton and husband Kenneth, Charles Stephen Pruett and wife Cynthia Gray, and Stanley Keith Pruett and wife Rachel Leigh Anderson; her great-grandchildren, Bailey and Maddie Meyer, Avery and Allison Weathers, Carmela and Jett Wilson, Trent, Sam, Trayson, Turner, Clint, Katie and Teddy Tipton, Caitlin and Slayton Pruett, and Mikayla and Chloe Pruett; her brothers, Kenneth Thomas Williams and wife Virginia Rae Starnes, and Jerry Dan Williams; her sisters, Emma Earlene Williams Hopkins and husband Joseph, Wanda Nell Williams Stephens and husband John Raymond, Elsie Bee Williams Lee and husband Jerry Wayne; her sister-in-laws, Esther Williams, Jean Standifer Williams, and Merinette McDaniel Williams; her brother-in-law, Carlton Linegar; several nieces, nephews, and a host of friends.