Betty Jean Norvell Downs was born on March 10, 1928 in San Francisco, California and died on May 28, 2023 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her parents were Driskill A. (Dan) and Clarissa Norvell.
Betty moved to Texas with her parents in 1942. She first attended Nederland High, formed several lifelong friendships and attended Nederland class reunions over the decades. They later moved to Beaumont, where she graduated from Beaumont High in 1945. Betty married Tony Downs in January 1945 and they settled in Beaumont after the war. She first worked for a few years in the downtown store of Mr. Thomas Lombardo and later for Pittsburg Plate Glass, where she also formed lifelong friends. In the 50’s to early 70’s when they were beginning to raise their family, she helped her husband with his plumbing business and for a time ran a fabric shop called The Fabric Garden.
Betty began working full-time in the mid 1970’s and retired in 1992 from PageNet in Houston, where she had been based for several years. She moved back to Beaumont to be close to her family again and worked part-time for Burns Properties for over 20 years. While retired while having more time for her favorite hobbies, cooking and sewing/quilting, she found great joy in being a grandmother and also enjoyed spending time with friends, traveling and being in the community for seven years to be a Bible study community. For many years she was a member of the Westgate Church of Christ. For the last 30 years she attended the First Christian Church of Sour Lake, then was a member of the Northwood Christian Church and later transferred to the Calvary Baptist Church. Wherever she worked or attended church, Betty made good and lasting friendships.
She recently moved to Colorado Springs with her daughter Deborah.
Betty valued her family and friends and especially loved cooking, sewing, playing and travelling, among other things. She was fun-loving and generous, especially with her delicious recipes. Betty was a Christian and said many times in recent years that God is good; that he had taken care of her all her life, even if she didn’t know it then, and she knew that he would always take care of her.
Betty was an only child but had several cousins whom she loved dearly. She is survived by her daughters Deborah Waguspack and husband Michael; Clara Storey and husband Gary; grandchildren, Jace Waguspack and wife Jessica; Grant Waguspack and wife Sarah; and Amanda Williams and husband Wade; and great-grandchildren, Luke and Autumn Waguspack (Jace); and Rachel Waguspack (Grants). She is preceded in death by her son Anthony C. Downs III; and her former husband, Anthony C. (Tony) Downs, Jr.
Arrangements for Ms Downs are pending under the management of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. 409.832.1621
Published by Broussard’s Mortuary – McFaddin on June 1, 2023.
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