Bette Shelley McCleary was born June 14, 1948 in Stuttgart, Germany and died April 15, 2020 in Carrollton, Texas.The daughter of a U.S. Army Major and decorated veteran of WWII and Korea, Betty was born abroad after the end of WWII and spent most of her first eight years in Germany, Austria and Italy. The influence of nannies from those countries gave her some fluency in both German and Italian languages by the age of six. She delighted in communicating for the family when they were in restaurants or other public places.Bette moved back to the states in her early childhood with her younger brother, Michael Shelley, and they eventually settled in Irving where she graduated from Irving High School in 1966.Bette attended Jacksonville Baptist College and graduated from Dallas Baptist University with an undergraduate degree in English, and later earned a Masters Degree in English from the University of North Texas. These degrees prepared her for teaching in the Irving ISD early in her career. After 13 years of teaching, she spent the remainder of her career in education publishing with large publishing companies, where she excelled in consulting for educational textbooks and course of study materials.Bette loved to sing from an early age, especially with her brother, and often shared her talent at church and school concerts. We know that Bette is singing in heaven today because of her personal faith in Jesus Christ.Bette is survived by her husband of fifty years, Bob McCleary; her son, Brad McCleary; her brother Michael Shelley; and her pride and joy twin grand-daughters Claire and Camille McCleary.Services will be under the direction of Dr. Brent Taylor from First Baptist Church at The Fields in Carrollton, TX.Please leave the family condolences and share memories on this website.