BetteEllen Martha Pepper Clark passed away on March 11, 2010, in Brownwood, TX, and will be interred at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
Bette was born June 8, 1924, in Los Angeles, California, to Edythe Valentine Tracy and Harvey W. Pepper. She graduated from Compton Junior College with an Associate Arts degree in June 1944 and immediately enlisted in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Bette completed basic training at Hunter College in New York, radio school in Oxford, Ohio, and was stationed at Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where she served as a Radioman Third Class. Bette was awarded the ribbon bar of the Navy Unit Commendation for her meritorious conduct as a member of the Naval service during World War II.After the war, Bette married, became a homemaker and raised two daughters. She was an avid bowler and golfer, and enjoyed gardening and crafts of all kinds. She worked for Physical Science Laboratory in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for many years, performing data reduction and optical film reading. She also worked as a computer operator for over 10 years at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.
Bette is survived by her two daughters, Carol Clark of Evergreen, Colorado, and Connie Lindsey and her husband Ken of San Angelo, TX; four grandchildren, Cassandra Truesdale, Jessica Truesdale, Matthew Lindsey, Keith Lindsey and his wife Samantha; four great-grandchildren, Brooke Hanson, Aiden Hanson, Ethan Hanson, and Aurora Lindsey.
