Betty Jane Schoolar

Daughter of Wilbert and Mary Trittin Peck, Betty was born on the 7th of November, 1939, on her grandparents’ dairy farm in Poygan, Wisconsin. She grew up in the Oshkosh area and frequently shared fond memories of the farming community there. Soon after high school graduation, Betty moved to Chicago, where she worked as a manuscript typist at multiple companies downtown and played softball in a semi-professional women’s league. While employed at Billings Hospital at the University of Chicago, she met Joseph Schoolar, the medical student who became her husband of 52 years. They moved to Houston shortly after their wedding in November 1960 to commence his residency in psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, and over the next nine years they had five children, Jonathan, Cynthia, Geoffrey, Catherine, and Adrian.

As a busy and devoted mother, Betty found time for her own pursuits: the Baylor Wives Club, softball and bowling teams, outings to watch the Rockets and the Astros, cooking for her renowned dinner parties, papermaking, needlepoint, and multiple book clubs. For several decades, she and her husband organized their social life around the University of Chicago Great Books group, and Betty especially enjoyed reading works in translation.

Betty treasured the camaraderie of her neighbors and greatly prized the friendships she made through her many avocations. In time, she resumed her work as a medical administrative assistant at Baylor and in her husband’s practice. While two of her children were in college themselves, Betty earned her bachelor’s degree in history summa cum laude from the University of St. Thomas.

Beginning in the 1970s, Betty found a meaningful outlet for her creative energies through floral design. She was a member of the Southampton Garden Club and the Far Corners Garden Study Club and served as president of both organizations, as well as of the Houston Federation of Garden Clubs. She became a Design Instructor for the National Garden Clubs Flower Show Schools and immensely enjoyed her travel with friends and colleagues through her work as an accredited flower show Master Judge.

To her children, Betty was a woman who could do anything, from sewing an impeccable garment to calming a fretful infant to directing a class play. She coached softball and baseball, could change a tire in record time, and always won at Scrabble. She was a person of sophistication and energy who drew on her midwestern resourcefulness when a problem needed solving. Recognizing the different inclinations of her five children, she did whatever it took for each to pursue their individual interests. In addition to traveling, Betty, Joseph, and the children loved spending time together on their farm in the hill country.

Betty is predeceased by her parents, her husband, and her sister Judy. She is survived by her sister Nancy and her brother Larry, her husband’s brother Larry Schoolar, and many beloved nieces and nephews on both sides of her extended family whose outreach was especially meaningful following her stroke. In addition to her five children, Betty is survived by her “son-in-love,” her “daughters-in-love,” her many adoring grandchildren and their life partners, as well as one great-grandchild.

The family wishes to thank the staff of the Plaza Skilled Nursing Facility at the Buckingham, where Betty lived for a number of years, especially Keli Niaboua, Ify Akahara, and Esther Multhoni. Patti, Annemieke, Janet, and Edwin gave her the powerful gift of their presence and friendship.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening on Friday, the 1st of March, in the library and grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

A funeral service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 2nd of March, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent grand foyer until five o’clock in the afternoon.

The family will gather for a private interment at St. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Cemetery in Dubina, Texas.