Obituary of Thacker, Elizabeth Nell "Betty" McLaury

Elizabeth Nell “Betty” McLaury Thacker joined her Lord and Savior on February 20^th 2014, at the age of 98 in Decatur, TX. Betty was born August 31^st 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama, to Cecil Rhodes and Robert Kinnear McLaury. She received an Associate’s Degree in Bookkeeping at a Dallas Community college and was a graduate of Sunset high school in Dallas,TX. She grew up in Dallas with her sister Virginia and graduated from Sunset High School and Dallas Community College.  While living there, she met and married Ray Anthony Thacker.  Shortly thereafter they moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where their son Gregg was born.  They eventually moved to Parsons, Kansas, where they lived for many years.  Betty, Ray, and Gregg moved to Farmers Branch, TX, in 1961 where Betty began work at Nationmark Inc., where she was much beloved. As she once remarked, Nationmark finally allowed her to retire after working there until she was nearly 80.  At the same time, her volunteer work with Gift Shop at the Farmers Branch Historical Park gave her great joy and many close friends. Betty was a long time resident of Farmers Branch and very active in her community, serving on the Farmers Branch Historical Park Board as well as being a member of the Farmers Branch Woman’s Club. Betty was a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, having been a lifelong Episcopalian.  She served her church as a member of the altar guild, and had a rich life of playing bridge, working puzzles, collecting antiques, being involved with living history at the Historical Park.  She loved gardening, though she would never say she ever had a green thumb. Betty is preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Cecil McLaury; husband, Ray Anthony Thacker; her sister Virginia McGill; her great-granddaughters, Wakanda and Yoluta Thacker and her nephew John A. McGill. She is survived by her son Gregg Thacker, her Grandson Christopher Thacker and his wife Anna and her great granddaughters, Ayita, Kimana, Nakoma & Tehya Thacker, brother-in-law Charlie McGill, all of Decatur, Texas, and by her many nieces, and nephews and their children and grandchildren. Visitation and viewing will be on Monday, 2/24/2014 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm in the Brooks Family Chapel of the  North Dallas Funeral Home, 2710 Valley View Lane, Farmers Branch, Texas 75234. There will be a reception on Tuesday 2/25/2014 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 2783 Valwood Parkway, Farmers Branch, Texas 75234 from 12:30pm to 2:00 p.m. Funeral Service will start at 2:00 p.m. with entombment to follow at the Mausoleum at St. Nicholas, 4800 Wichita Trail, Flower Mound, Texas. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association. The family would like to thank Karen Walker, for being such a great friend to Betty. They would also like to thank Beth and all the staff at Heritage Place of Decatur and Drew with Integracare hospice of Denton. Please send family condolences on this website.