Betty Utt

Betty Lenora Utt was born the daughter of Alfred “Tack” Hammer and Betty Lorene Still Hammer on August 7, 1935, in Chickasha, Oklahoma. She lived in Chickasha until 1941, when at the age of 6 years old, her father transferred with the United States Postal Service to Earlsboro, Oklahoma. In Earlsboro she attended all 12 years of elementary through high school. While in school she played girls basketball for four years. One year Betty and her sister, and two other girls entered the Senior Olympic Basketball Tournament. They started too late to enter in the Oklahoma Olympics so they had to go to Topeka, Kansas and enter from that state. They won and were entered in the National Olympics in Arizona that year but they had to decline as one the girls’ mothers became ill and they could not be gone for as long as the Olympics said they had to be there. Betty had fun even though she suffered a broken finger. They decided right then and there we were too old to be playing. Betty also attended the Methodist Church, and was active in Methodist Youth Fellowship. After graduating from Earlsboro High School in 1953, she attended and graduated from Neff’s Business College in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Upon graduation she started working for Hopeman’s Equipment company in Seminole, Oklahoma. While there, her fellow workers tried for several months to introduce her to a man in the Air force who was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana. After five months Betty finally gave in and agreed to meet him, who by then had completed his service in the Air Force and was attending college at the University of Oklahoma. But first she had to see him. A coke date was arranged at Parks Drug Store where she met this guy named Buddy Utt. Betty thought he was cute and very nice and at the end of the evening Buddy asked if he could ask her out on a date. So, on Halloween 1954, they went on their first date, along with Buddy’s Sister Darlene and her husband. When Betty and Buddy decided to get married two years later, they applied for their marriage license, and Betty found out Buddy’s real name was Raymond. Everyone in Seminole, where Ray was from, had always just called him Buddy. That was the only name she had ever known him as. They were married June 15, 1956 in the Methodist Church in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. They spent their honeymoon in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their first home was a three-room garage apartment in Seminole, Oklahoma. The rent was $49.00 a month and they even had a garage in which to park the car. They thought they were living high. After Ray’s graduation from Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1957 he accepted a job with Arkansas Fuel Oil in Shreveport, Louisiana. They lived in Shreveport for four years. In 1958, their son James was born and in 1960 their daughter, Elizabeth was born. Cities Service Oil Company bought out Arkansas Fuel Oil and in 1961 Ray was transferred to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They lived in Dewey, Oklahoma (about five miles North of Bartlesville) where they were active in the Methodist Church. Betty sang in the choir, directed a children’s choir, and taught third grade Sunday School. And then in 1965 their third child, Sherri came to join the family. They lived in Dewey for six years. In June 1967, Ray was transferred by Cities Service Oil Company to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Opting to live in another small town, Ray and Betty chose Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which at that time had a population of 9,500 people. Today it is no longer a small town, with well over 100,000 people. Ray and Betty were members of First Methodist Church before becoming charter members and helping form St. Stephens United Methodist Church in 1973. Betty has been in the choir ever since she joined St. Stephen’s. At St Stephens she taught third grade Sunday School class along with John Spencer. She was also Treasurer of St. Stephens United Methodist Women for nearly 19 years. When their youngest child Sherri entered elementary school, Betty went to work for Broken Arrow Schools in the cafeteria at Northeast Elementary. The working hours allowed her to be home with her children before and after school. After school hours Betty was also a Cub Scouts Den Mother and Campfire Girls Leader. At the close of school in May 1979, she retired from the Broken Arrow School System with nine years of service. The following October she accepted a three-month temporary job with Cities Service Oil Company which ended up lasting 14 years. In that time Cities Service Oil was bought out by Occidental Petroleum and the Tulsa office was named OXY USA, Inc. from which she retired at the end of the year in 1992. Betty traveled to numerous countries with Ray during his working years. A highlight of her overseas travel was a tour of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland in 1996 with Ray and his brother Don. She also enjoyed cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska and a trip to Hawaii. Betty loved being outdoors. One of her favorite activities was to go camping in her travel trailer with members of the Rainy Day Campers for nearly 35 years (1975- 2014). One of her favorite trips was traveling through South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico. NASCAR was another favorite sport she loved. On October 7,1999 she took the ride of her life at the Richard Petty Driving Experience on the high banks of The World Center of Racing Daytona International Speedway. Betty loved basketball and held season tickets to Oral Roberts University basketball. She also enjoyed Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball. Betty was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Katherine Heister. Betty is survived by her loving husband Ray Utt of 68 years from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and her son James Utt and his wife Kimela of Crested Butte, Colorado. Two Daughters: Elizabeth David and her husband Daryl of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and Sherri Bennett and her husband Robert of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Six Grandchildren: Jamison Utt, Nicolette Utt, Jeremy Utt, Jennifer Woestman (Spencer), Cassi Walters (Chris), and Cody David (Ruben). And 4 Great Grandchildren: Cole Woestman, Hannah Woestman, Caleb Walters, and Caelyn Walters. ** “If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all my prejudices against my fellow man. Give my soul to God. If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed, word, or hug someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.” In lieu of flowers, the family would like you to consider a donation to www.clarehouse.org

Tributes

Betty Utt

August 7, 1935 - January 15, 2025