Bettie Ashcraft

Our mother, Bettie Ashcraft, was born in Austin, Texas in 1936 to parents Albert “Doc” Calhoun and Minnie Elizabeth (Smart) Calhoun. Mom was the fifth of six children. Mom passed on October 31, 2020. She was predeceased by her parents and all of her siblings.

She will be greatly missed and vividly remembered by her children: son, Bill (Julie Lambeth) of Plano, TX; son, Phillip (Lisa) of Albuquerque, NM; daughter, Marie Teal (Leroy Goats) of Alpine, AZ; and daughter, Holly Lamoreaux of Hurley, NM. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, Gloria Michelle Teal (Blake Deakin), Kristen Teal (Chris Hunton), Katie Baker (Les), Dana Ashcraft (Jesus Rios), Emily Ashcraft, John Ashcraft, Patricia Mester, and Teresa Lamoreaux (Ricardo de la Torre); and seven great grandchildren. She was especially fond of her niece, Alice Navarro (Gary Friedman) and long-time friends, DeeDee and Wayne Eckles.

Mom was raised on a farm near Hagerman, NM. The entire family worked the farm to earn a modest living. Mom often reminded us of her mother’s hard work on the farm that included working with Doc on farm tasks and animal husbandry, and also raising a large family by making their clothes, growing food in the garden, preparing meals, tending to their health, and making staples like butter, canned goods, and soap. Mom told us stories of riding a bareback mule to school with a couple of her siblings also aboard.  After arriving at school, the mule knew to take the return trip back to the farm. And on the days that the mule had other chores, she walked to school with her pet runt pig, Oinky, who also knew how to return to the farm after school started! The next time Mom rode a mule was decades later when she rode one down and up the Grand Canyon!

Doc unexpectedly passed when Mom was 11 years old. When asked how the family survived the difficult times after her father’s passing, in a response that was typical of Mom’s view of life, she said, “Sometimes you just do what has to be done and move on.”

At 21 years of age she was the mother of three children (the oldest of whom was not yet four years old). This is odd by today’s standard, less so in post WWII.  In a trend that would last her entire life, she made our world, her world. Mom was always interested in what we were doing and our ideas, plans, and thoughts. Mom had the rare ability to provide guidance by listening and asking questions that often led us to good decisions (not always, sorry Mom!).

She raised her family to adulthood in Silver City, NM and worked at our parents’ real estate office as well. Later she earned her real estate sale’s license and then her broker’s license. Mom managed a successful career while taking care of her children and home.  She also found time to occasionally play bridge, was active in Eastern Star and had many good friends in this organization (the Lane’s, the Scholl’s and the Hensley’s come immediately to mind).

After our parents divorced, Mom relocated to Albuquerque. Mom sold real estate for several years. Later, she worked in admissions at Albuquerque Manor. She was a member of the Red Hat Society and she enjoyed concerts, plays, museums, movies, and baseball.  She loved her daily word puzzles, playing Yahtzee, and putting together jigsaw puzzles.

Mom loved traveling. Some of her favorite trips were to the Hawaiian Islands with son, Bill, whitewater rafting the Salmon River in Idaho with daughter, Marie, and Alaska with niece, Alice. Mom especially enjoyed family gatherings at the Peet’s Cabin on the banks of the Rio Hondo near the Taos Ski Valley (perhaps her favorite place).  Mom was always ready to travel, hike, explore, and enjoy time with her family.

Since Mom was young when she started her family, we were able to enjoy our lives together until we were well into “middle age”. Throughout our lives Mom was our rock, our confidant, our counselor, and our friend until the day we lost her. We will miss her beautiful smile and wonderful laughter. What a blessing she was to all of us!

Forever in our hearts, farewell for now, Mom.

A celebration of our Mom’s life is planned for 2021 (pending pandemic relief) at the Taos Ski Valley.