Betty Brice

Betty Brice was born April 6, 1938 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. She completed high school at Monte Cassino Catholic School in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1956. Betty attended nursing school in Kansas City, Kansas, became a Registered Nurse in 1960, and then joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant. After basic training in San Antonio, Texas, she attended OB-GYN Advanced Training in El Paso, Texas, and was assigned to the 319th Station Hospital in Verdun, France in 1961 as a 1st Lieutenant. Accompanied by her mother, Louise Brice, Betty served in France and Germany for three years. Betty then returned to San Antonio, Texas in 1965 for the Advanced Nursing Course through the Advanced Officer Training program with the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston. Betty was later assigned to Fitzsimons Army General Hospital in Colorado for seven years as a Captain. In 1970 she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado and was sent to Okinawa, Japan as a Major. Upon completion of her service in Japan, Betty was immediately accepted at Columbia University for their Master’s Degree program and Betty went on to earn her Nurse Midwifery Degree and Master of Science in Nursing from Columbia University in New York, New York. Teaching assignments upon completion of her education included teaching as a Professor at the Walter Reed Army Institution of Nursing with the University of Maryland and in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where Betty developed the Army OB-GYN Nurse Practitioner’s Course as a Lieutenant Colonel. Betty served as consultant to the United States Surgeon General in Washington D.C. where she authored “A Preface for OB-GYN Specialty” and received an award from the United States Surgeon General for her work. While in service at Fort Sam Houston, Texas toward the end of her career, Betty was awarded Professional Designator for OB-GYN, was assigned as a Health Science Command Staff Officer for the Nursing Science Division, and was ultimately promoted to Chief of the Nursing Science Division, Academy of Health Sciences, as a Colonel. Over the course of her career, Col. Brice received a number of military awards and honors including “Meritorious Service Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster),” “Meritorious Unit Commendation,” “Army Good Conduct Medal,” “National Defense Service Medal,” “Army Service Ribbon,” two “Overseas Service Ribbons,” and the “Expert Field Medical Badge.” Col. Brice retired in 1987. Betty then undertook the job of fulltime rancher, raising registered Brangus cattle for over 30 years. She was an active member of the International Brangus Breeder’s Association and Texas Brangus Breeder’s Association. Betty was a devoted member of the Catholic church and an active parishioner of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Schertz, Texas. She selflessly served others through the Sacristans Committee, Bereavement Committee, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EHMC) Committee, and the Eucharistic Minister and Homebound ministries. Betty was predeceased by her beloved mother, Lilly Louise Newman Brice, in 1987. Betty is survived by her ranch partner Betty Rae Sewell of Schertz, Texas; her sister (affectionately known to her as her “sissy”) Nancy Jones; her adoring niece, Martina, and her husband, Johnny Longoria, Jr.; her two grandnieces Hannah Longoria and Elena Longoria of Pearland, Texas. Also very dear to Betty were Sherilyn and Stan Dugan of Corsicana, Texas, Katie and Tim Moe of Weatherford, Texas, and their sons Tyler and Tucker Moe. Her Longoria and Sewell families became extra special to Betty and she loved spending special occasions and holidays with them. She was an example of a life well lived. She will be missed by all those she touched in this life beyond measure.