Bette Gough Slade's Obituary
Bette Gough Slade
Memorial services for Bette Gough Slade will be held Tuesday, January 9th at 2:00 PM at The Church at Lake Cherokee at 11968 FM 2011 E., Henderson, TX (between Silvey Bridge and FM 1716) with Rev. Bill Smythe and Fr. Mike Maxwell officiating. Services will be under the direction of Rader Funeral Home with private entombment held at Rosewood Park Mausoleum. A reception will be held following the memorial service in Maxwell Hall adjacent to the church. She was a greeter at The Church at Lake Cherokee for many years. She died in the morning of January 4, 2018. Bette was born on Easter Sunday March 27, 1921 and felt that God guided her throughout her life.
She was the daughter of Carl Herbert and Porter Lucile Gough. She attended public school in Waco, Los Angeles Junior College in California and graduated from Baylor University in 1942. She received her Golden Diploma in 1992.
After graduation she worked for the U. S. District Engineers building Blackland Army Airfield. Later, she was transferred to Alberta Canada to help build the Alcan Highway. When the 33rd Flying Training Wing came to Waco, she was secretary to General Luther Smith.
She married Frank Hearin Slade, whom she met at Baylor, after he returned from overseas duty on November 18, 1945. He knew he would marry her after one dance. They came to Longview as a partner in the family owned Turpie Slade’s Men and Boys Store. She was active in Camp Fire Girls Programs and a den mother for Boy Scouts of America. She served on many committees and offices of the Jaycettes. She was a charter member of the Camellia Garden Club, organized in her home in 1953.
She was the second woman to serve on the Board of Directors of the Longview Chamber of Commerce and remained on the Public Relations Committee for many years. She owned Welcome Services and was the City Hostess for 30 years before retiring in 1991. She welcomed thousands of new residents to Longview and introducing them to local businesses and loved being recognized by those she welcomed through the years.
During her leadership of the Newcomers Club, she developed many activities for new residents. For her devotion, she was voted Woman of the Year by a local chapter of Beta Sigma Phi.
Frank and Bette were original shareholders when Lake Cherokee was formed. She drew the lot number of their first lot from the fish bowl in 1947. In 1956, they bought the lot where they would spend weekends with their boys and then build their home in 1977 where she lived out her life.
She was preceded in death by her husband Frank Slade, her parents Lucile and Carl Herbert Gough of Ruidoso, New Mexico, her sister Eldon Claire Brooks of Waco, her sister Dorothy Palmer and her nephew, Joe Brooks of Marietta, GA.
Survivors include son Frank G. “Chip” and Dianne Slade of Spring Branch, Texas and son Charles H. “Chuck” and Ann Slade of Houston, Texas, granddaughter Hearin Gough Slade Schmitt and her husband Paul, and great granddaughters Emmerich Anne, Porter Elizabeth, and Vivian Slade Schmitt of College Station, Texas. She is also survived by niece Missy and Sam Lanham, niece Deedee and Tom Howard, and nephew John Cree and Judy Palmer.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to the Salvation Army or to the charity of your choice.
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