Betty Ruth Shankles

A voracious reader and talented gardener, Betty Ruth Shankles left this earth better and more beautiful than she found it. She passed away at her home on August 20, 2023, at the age of 87. The family will receive friends from 6pm – 8pm, Friday, August 25, 2023 at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 10am, Saturday, August 26, 2023 at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Rosewood Chapel. Interment will follow at Trinity Memorial Park.

She was born June 22, 1936, in Idabel, Oklahoma. As the fifth child of seven born to Ed Franklin and Linda Bell Cobb, the family worked hard as cotton sharecroppers in rural Oklahoma. Her siblings would describe her as the helper and little mother of the family as she helped to raise her youngest siblings and support her mother and father with chores and duties around their home. That helping, maternal spirit never left her.

A beauty with a sweet smile and dark brown hair, she worked hard in school excelling in English classes and spending as much time as possible with her nose in a book. She was an active member and officer of the Idabel High School Library Club before graduating in 1955.

Her cheerful spirit and looks even caught the eye of a Hollywood legend when actor Robert Mitchum stopped by the diner where she worked and asked her on a date. She stood him up as she thought it was a joke. He came back to the diner to tease her about it.

Betty’s life and legacy are marked by her unfailing kindness, remarkable work ethic, and care for her family. She met and married William “Bill” Shankles in 1960 and soon relocated from Idabel to Lamesa, Texas, in 1963 eventually making the move to Big Spring in 1976. Together they loved and raised four children. She dedicated her career to the Farm Service Agency and supporting her husband in his law enforcement career and public service as the Howard County Justice of the Peace. She also served as chief cowhand to her husband’s cattle hobby.

Retiring from the FSA in December 1996, Betty never slowed down. She kept an active social calendar as a bowling league member and opened her home for many “Survivor” watch parties and “Joker” games. Any guest to her home was sure to be fed well as she loved to cook and bake. A family favorite was either her homemade green chile enchiladas or chocolate gravy over biscuits. She loved to travel to all parts of the country with her kids, but specifically to see her favorite team, the Texas Rangers. Even in March of 2023, she was in Surprise, Arizona, to scope out the new team at Spring Training.

She was preceded to Heaven by her husband Bill, mother and father, siblings Dean Cobb, James Cobb, Curly Cobb, and Lucille Cobb Sargeant.

She is missed daily by her brother and sister, Wayne Cobb and Margaret Ross, children, Michael Shankles of Big Spring, Anthony Shankles of Big Spring, Tammy Shankles Berry and husband Tommy of Hermleigh, Texas, Bruce Johnson and wife Pam of Idabel, Oklahoma, and 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

She will be greatly missed but all the love and kindness she brought to the world is stitched in the fabric of her family. She taught them the joy of cooking, baseball, gardening, and most of all reading. Her life and faith are summed up by a line from one of her favorite novels, “Little Women.”

“Led by her mother’s hand, she had drawn nearer to the Friend who always welcomes every child with a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother”.

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

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