Betty C. Kent

Betty C. Kent (né Frances Elizabeth Cowden) lived a remarkable life. She inspired us with her spirit, spunk, and love of learning. No matter what challenges life handed her, she always looked for the positive and saw the presence of a loving Spirit working all things together for good.

Betty started life as a South Texas girl, born in San Antonio and raised in Pearsall. She was the first-born child of Frances Coleman Cowden and George Cowden. She adored her brother George Cowden, II (1930-present) and sister Mary Jane White (1932-2012). She grew up attending Pearsall’s First Baptist Church and graduated from Pearsall High School.

Betty graduated from Baylor University in 1950 and went on to get a Masters in Christian Education from Southwest Texas Baptist Theological Seminary. While in the seminary, she met James “Red” Duke (1928-2015). They married in 1953. For their honeymoon, they drove to Alaska in a station wagon. Betty has four children: Hank, Rebecca, Sara, and Hallie Duke. She has seven grandchildren: Sean Duke, Jesse Duke, Joshua Duke, Maria Roosma, Waylon Roosma, and James and Elizabeth Overton. She has one great granddaughter, Cierra Rose Duke. She always welcomed her children’s friends into her home and many felt like she was second mother to them.

Betty was a life-long learner and teacher, and she had a great sense of adventure. She was a teacher in elementary school and Sunday school in Dallas, Texas. When the family moved to New York in 1967, she developed a love of gardening and antiques. When the family moved to Afghanistan in 1970, she learned about the culture and history, and drove the children and other expats on excursions in the Land Rover see historical sites. The family returned to Houston, Texas in 1972. In the years to come, she and her sister Mary Jane took a trip to China and in 1986, they went to South America to see Halley’s comet.

In addition to raising four children, Betty became an antique dealer, specializing in Texas primitive pieces. Her girls helped her drive across Texas to find special pieces, manage estate sales, and run booths at antique shows. In those journeys, she found a run-down house on 9 acres outside of Houston that only a Texas primitive antique dealer could love. Built in two sections in the 1850’s and 1870’s, Betty saw the jewel in the dust and restored it. For thirty years, Betty welcomed family and friends to “the farm.” It was the gathering place for annual family November birthday parties after Thanksgiving and many friends joined the family for Easter celebrations – including egg hunts and water balloon fights.

In the early 1980’s she became the founding executive director of Odyssey House. She started with fundraising, got the facility ready, hired a clinical team, and opened the doors of a residential adolescent drug and alcohol abuse treatment center in Houston.

She met her second husband, Pete Kent, at a square-dancing event at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church where she had been a long-time member. They were married in 1990 at the farm house she loved. After retiring from Odyssey House and building an addition at the farm, Betty and Pete moved to the farm full-time and began growing and crafting gourds in earnest. Her enthusiasm for the natural beauty of gourds led her to teach about growing and crafting gourds. She became “the gourd lady” and the president of the Texas Gourd Society.

In 2006, Betty and Pete moved to Austin to be close to her youngest grandchildren. Betty found her spiritual home at Unity Church of the Hills and served as a prayer chaplain. Even when she moved to an independent living residence in 2016 at 88 years old, she was still teaching. She realized that many of the other residents were not from Texas, so she started teaching Texas history classes and, of course, gourd classes.

Betty was generous, kind, funny, creative, and loving. She continued inspiring people into her last months of life by who she was and how she lived. The impact of our beloved mom, sister, and friend will send ripples of Light through people’s lives for generations.

A visitation for Betty will be held Thursday, October 27, 2022 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home, 9700 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, Texas. A celebration of life will occur Friday, October 28, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Unity Church of the Hills, 9905 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, Texas. A committal service will occur Friday, October 28, 2022 at 1:00 PM at Texas State Cemetery, 909 Navasota Street, Austin, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Austin Child Guidance Center to continue her legacy of growth, healing, and transformation.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenchapelofthehills.com for the Duke and Cowden families.