Bette Thompson

Bette Burgess Thompson, 102, of Amarillo passed away August 5, 2020 at The Ware Living Center.

Memorial service will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 8, 2020 in the Chapel of First Presbyterian Church, 1100 S. Harrison St. Interment will be private. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home.

She was born in Amarillo, TX on February 25, 1918, where she lived all but two years of her life. She graduated from Lamesa High School in 1936, then attended West Texas State and graduated from Amarillo City College. Her first and only job as a feature writer for the Amarillo Globe News lasted forty-three years. In addition to Bette’s witty “Around The Town” column, her articles and series won many plaudits and awards, including the prestigious Headliners Award in 1970. For decades, she entertained audiences as a character actor for the Amarillo Little Theater. Bette wrote several novels and remained a lifelong avid reader and student of Native American history.

She was preceded in death by her parents; Amarillo pioneers, Jack P. Burgess and Alta Little Burgess; her sisters, Rachel Burgess Austin of Abilene, TX and Jean Burgess Fraley of Fritch, TX; her brother, Bill Burgess of Amarillo, TX; her niece, Vicki Austin Davis of Abilene, TX; and a nephew, Randy Burgess of Longmont,CO.

She is survived by nieces, Tiffany Austin Wagstaff of Abilene, TX, Judy Carr of Baton Rouge, LA, Becky Loyd of Bainbridge, GA and Kaylyn Smith of Fritch, TX; and nephew, Dee Carr of Lynn Haven, FL, and their families.