Betty Ray Coffee

Betty Ray Coffee, age 92, passed away Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00am Friday, April 15, 2022 at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Rosewood Chapel. Interment will follow at Trinity Memorial Park. She will lie in state Thursday, April 14, 2022 from 9:00am to 9:00pm at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home.

She was born February 19, 1930 in Big Spring, Texas. From an early age, Betty Ray loved reading and school. She even convinced her parents and the school across the street to start at age 5 and she graduated from Big Spring High School at age 16. She was a member of the inaugural class of Howard County Junior College where she attended for two years before graduating from Abilene Christian University. She was an outstanding student throughout her academic career.

As the oldest of four sisters, she took early responsibility for her three charges with her grandfather who lived with the family. Betty Ray loved her grandfather dearly and he was a major influence in her life. He taught her to golf, shoot and hunt and how to make the family famous “Grandad’s cake” – a universal birthday request. She also loved music and dancing and took piano and acapella voice lessons. There was early talk of forming a family band with the four girls.

But all was not perfect with her active youth – the family doctor diagnosed her with flat feet and mandated that she wear only custom made cowboy boots to raise her arches – no tennis shoes, sandals or Sunday dress shoes – just cowboy boots. It caused her great embarrassment as women were not allowed to wear pants to school, thus she wore her boots with skirts to much teenage teasing. Little did she know that she was sixty plus years ahead of modern fashion!

After college and a brief stint working with a Dallas law firm, she returned to Big Spring and began work with the VA Hospital in accounting. She perceived herself as a shy public speaker, so she took a Dale Carnegie course and joined Toastmasters. After retiring from the VA in 1984, she played golf and one year won the City Championship in the Comanche Trail Women’s Golf Association. She was called back to work in 1990 when she took over managing the Big Spring Health Food Center owned by her mother when she became ill.

Betty Ray loved adventure and travel. She took up flying in the early 1960s, swapping bookkeeping services to the local Pilots’ Association in exchange for lessons and flying time. She even dared hang gliding in her early 70s with an instructor! Her love for sports, and bowling in particular, led her to meet Max Coffee – her husband of almost 56 years. That was possibly her greatest adventure, given that she had only one child at the time and he brought four to the marriage!

Betty Ray attended 14th & Main Church of Christ her entire life and was a regular at all services until ill health precluded her attendance in the last couple of years. She taught children’s Bible classes and later became a fixture and leader in the Ladies’ Bible Class. Her mother and grandfather were both devout students of the Bible and greatly influenced her appreciation of scripture.

Although she lived a full and adventurous life, she will most be remembered for her kindness to others and sharp wit. Children, grandchildren, sisters, cousins and friends all loved her for her genuine caring, and she had a knack for clever humor. She had the tenderest of hearts and she and her mother were best friends forever. We know she rejoices today in her heavenly reunion with her best friend.

Survivors include her husband, Max Coffee;, two sisters, Sue Nell Truxal and Frances Flournoy; five children, Debra Jones, Brent Clifton, Cary Coffee, Kim Phillips and Penni Clark; seven grandchildren, Luke Jones, Cayln Coffee, Cailey Fleming, Jake and Lenise Phillips and Micah Coffee and Michele Clark; and six great grandchildren, Daniel Osborn, Cadence Coffee, Chazzi Steen, Sawyer and Rylee Fleming, and Max and Sam Phillips.

She was preceded in death by her father, Raymond Lewis “Poncho” Nall and her mother, Eva Nall; one sister, Lou Ann Baker; and one grandson, Matthew Jones.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Eva Nall Scholarship Fund at Abilene Christian University c/o Lance Rieder, ACU Box 29134, Abilene, Texas 79699-9134.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home and Crematory. Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com