Bettye Ruth Pullen Alexander was born Sept. 10, 1931, in New Home, Texas, to Ira Emory Pullen and Georgia Peyton Gallenkamp Pullen.
She died in Waco on Aug. 29, 2024, 12 days before her 93rd birthday.
Bettye Ruth was the fourth of five children — she had two older sisters (Charlene and Rema Lou), one older brother (Peyton) and a younger brother (Lolan).
When Bettye’s parents separated in the 1930s, the family moved to Lometa to be near her grandfather. Money was scarce in the home of a single mother, but good management and ingenuity allowed her family a happy existence.
Bettye knew Lloyd Bryon Alexander, her husband of 60 years, as her brother Peyton’s friend, four years her senior. After he graduated, Lloyd joined the Army and shipped out to Hawaii, heading for Japan. When the war ended, he returned home to find Peyton’s little sister all grown up. The two married on Dec. 11, 1948.
Bettye was a loving, accommodating but no-nonsense mother who taught her children they were not entitled but privileged by their capabilities, accountable for their mistakes and sustained by their faith. Bettye was a committed member of Lometa Church of Christ.
Over the years, Bettye worked as a seamstress, election worker, and commodities manager for the Food and Drug Administration. She was a steady partner in ranching with her husband.
In the 1980s, already a grandmother, Bettye became a U.S. mail carrier, driving a rural route for 19 years.
Bettye was a prolific handcrafter and seamstress. She sewed all her daughter’s clothes, including her wedding dress. When the grandkids were small, she adorned each garment with her own label: “Creations by Granbe.” She knitted and crocheted constantly.
She donated hundreds of handmade articles including swaddling blankets, booties and crocheted lap afghans to hospitals, churches, nursing homes and other non-profits.
“Granbe” hosted weenie roasts by the creek for grandchildren and always kept her cookie jar full. She offered a listening ear and was always ready to play a game, making sure the grandchildren learned to lose as well as win.
Bettye loved all things “Ranger baseball” and had a fairly large appetite for the Cowboys and Mavericks.
Bettye was preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd Bryon Alexander Sr.; three siblings, Rema Lou Weaver, Charlene Burdett and Peyton Pullen; and her son-in-law, Terry Simmons.
She is survived by her brother Lolan Pullen of Woodland Hills, California; sons Lloyd Bryon Alexander Jr. and wife Jan, Barry Peyton Alexander and wife Karen, and daughter Karen Simmons, nine grandchildren and 17 greatgrandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 7 at Lometa Church of Christ. Grace Gardens Funeral Home and Cremations has charge of arrangements. Lunch will be provided at noon for family and friends.
