Elizabeth Lee Phagan

Elizabeth (Betty) Lee Phagan passed away peacefully Tuesday November 26, 2024, at The Cottages at Chapel Creek where she had spent her final days surrounded by her three daughters as well as the incredible memory care staff who loved and cared for her dearly in recent years.

Betty was born February 11, 1947, to Clarence Orville and Irene Cecilia (McCallum) Anderson in Minneapolis, MN. She attended and graduated from Richfield High School alongside her best friend, Pat Pittman. Betty married Jim Lee Phagan on April 20, 1974, and together they built a beautiful life of 41 years until his passing in 2015. Jim and Betty started their family on the Phagan family farm with the birth of their first daughter, Jenny, followed by their twins Mindy and Sarah.

In 1989, Betty and the family moved to Texas. As a mom, she loved to support her daughters in all their school activities, never missing a game, concert or performance. Betty was proud of her work and held a long successful career helping others as a social worker for the Department of Health and Human Services in Mexia, Texas.

Betty was an avid reader; a true artist; a fiercely competitive, fun loving, and joyful spirit. She spent her life sharing her heart, passion, and talents with everyone she encountered. She loved to recount stories of her younger years as a competitive gymnast, rec center box hockey champ, adventurous traveler, and proud older sister to Andy and Mike.

Betty became a Mimi with the births of her grandchildren Hudson, Tatum, Anderson and Lettie. She loved nothing more than being a Mimi and was thrilled her grandchildren loved books just as much as she, often sharing her favorites from childhood. They describe her as funny and kind with the best smile.

Betty is preceded in death by her parents, Clarence and Irene Anderson, husband Jim Phagan, brother Andrew Anderson and son in law Jason Black. She is survived by her daughters Jenny Bishop and her husband Mike of Arlington, Sarah Black of Grapevine, and Mindy Medick and her husband David of Frisco; her grandchildren Hudson, Tatum, Anderson, and Lettie Medick of Frisco, Shelbie and Eric Delacruz and their family of Pennsylvania, Randi Bishop and her family of Abilene and Michael Bishop of Abilene; and her brother, Michael Anderson and his wife Lori of Tennessee.

Betty also leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as all of those that called her “mom” because she treated them as such. We will all miss her warmth, humor, and loving presence. Whether through her jokes, her stories, or her cheerful nature, Betty had an innate ability to spread joy.

The family will be fulfilling her wishes of a private interment with her beloved Jim and near the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota next spring. Betty’s brain has been donated to Alzheimer’s research in hopes of making advancements in combating this disease that has affected her family so greatly.

Memorials preferred to Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & Neurodegenerative Disease at UT San Antonio.

https://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/biggsdonate