She was born Bette Belcher in Weymouth, MA on July 8th, 1945, and graduated from Weymouth High School and York College of Pennsylvania. After Graduation she joined The Sonesta Group and worked both in Nassau, Bahamas, and Boston, MA, where she met and married her husband of 44 years, Phil Tevis, a native of Moscow, IN.
After marriage in June, 1975, they relocated to London, England, where their two sons, Gregory and Christopher, were born. Their life together involved moves to California, Connecticut, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and finally Texas. For every relocation, Bette’s motto was always “Bloom Where You Are Planted”, making each and every new place a stable, warm, inviting home for her family.
Like clockwork, every summer Bette would bring the boys to visit their grandparents in Indiana and Massachusetts. The highlight was always the time spent at the “cottage” on Rocky Pond just outside of Plymouth, MA. It was here that she was most relaxed, spending time with her late parents, Donald and Marjorie Belcher, her beloved sister Barbara Hilliard, Barbara’s late husband Bill, their sons DB and Barry, and her cousins Penny, Judy, Jill and Jimmy. In later years this transitioned to an annual trip to the Cape, always with friends and loved ones around.
Outside of her immediate family Bette had two passions in her life, the first was her love of animals, shown through the adoration of her beloved family pets and many charitable contributions, and second, her love of people. All that knew Bette talk of her infectious personality, free of judgement and with an amazing capacity for love. She could and often did befriend almost anyone. She always saw the very best in people. Using her kind and generous spirit to help and guide many through their own personal struggles.
Later in life Bette found what she called “a capacity for love I didn’t know existed” in her role as “Nana” with her grandchildren. Greg and Mary-Reid providing the first pair, Pierce (9) and Andrew (7), then Chris and Jennifer providing the second pair, Caroline (5) an Christopher (1).
God has received another angel. We all will miss our “Nana” with all our hearts. She is survived by her husband, her sons, their families, her sister and numerous friends.
There is no memorial tribute planned at this time. In lieu of flowers, please take the opportunity to donate to either the SPCA of Texas (www.spca.org) or The Magdalen House (magdalenhouse.org) or a local charity of your choice.
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