Betty Bess Jacobson

Elizabeth Frances Bess Jacobson, 93, died peacefully at home in La Marque, Texas, on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Betty -- as she was called by everyone but God and the government, she liked to say -- was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on April 10, 1932, to Richard George Bess and Frances Terrell Bess. After moving to Houston at the age of 7, she and her younger sister were reared by their mother and maternal grandmother. Betty graduated from Lamar High School in 1950 and went on to attend The Rice Institute, where she was a member of the Owen Wister Literary Society, participated in Rice's first physical education program for women, and obtained her degree in English in 1954.

On April 24, 1954, Betty married John Ware Jacobson at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Houston. The couple first became acquainted at a young people's conference at Camp Allen, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, then located near Baytown. Camp Allen always remained a special place for them.

Betty and John established their home in Texas City following John's requisite military service and reared their three children. In 1985, John's work with Amoco took them to Naperville, Illinois, where they lived until retiring to Texas in 1991, settling in Richmond. After John's death in 2019, Betty moved to the home of her daughter and son-in-law in La Marque in 2022.

Betty worked briefly for Standard Oil Company of Texas in Houston after her graduation from Rice and later served as a substitute teacher in Texas City. Her true calling, other than her family, was in volunteering to serve those in need. Among other nonprofits, she volunteered with St. Luke's Hospital Auxiliary in Houston, Church Women United in Texas City (including a term as president), the Galveston Central Day Care Association Board, the Texas City Day Nursery, Texas City Thrift Shop, Houston YWCA, St. Vincent's House in Galveston, public schools, and was helping to bring about a Meals on Wheels program to Texas City when the family moved to Naperville. John and Betty frequently opened their home to those with temporary needs.

An Episcopalian from the age of 9, Betty became immersed in church work and was continually nurtured by the body of Christ. Active in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas from the time she was a teenager, she was a summer camp counselor at Camp Allen, was involved with Canterbury and young people's work, and later worked with the Children's Division of the Department of Christian Education and served on the Diocesan Liturgical Commission. As a member of Episcopal churches including St. Andrew's, Houston, St. Stephen's, Houston, St. George's, Texas City, St. Benedict, Bolingbrook, Illinois, and Calvary, Richmond, she taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, sang in the choir, served as a lector and Eucharistic minister, and, with John, led small group ministries, served on Cursillo teams, and was a mentor in the Education for Ministry (EfM) program. In 1982 she was admitted to the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, an organization of lay and ordained women who seek a life of prayer and spirituality, with a focus on social justice, unity, and peace. For 43 years, the Companions provided Betty with lasting friendships, spiritual encouragement, and prayer partnerships, and she served the organization in a variety of leadership roles. She loved spending time at Adelynrood, the Companions' historic retreat and conference center near Byfield, Massachusetts, and was able to make one last trip in 2024 with daughter Beth for a joyful reunion of friends.

Betty's specialty was connecting with people. She knew and celebrated the birthdays and anniversaries of her friends and family. She knew the names of the checkers at the grocery store, her letter carriers, neighbors, hairdressers, and repair people, and she probably knew their birthdays and their children's names, too. She was likely to run into someone she knew no matter where she happened to be in the world. Betty loved dogs, children, singing, teaching, traveling, cooking, baking, organizing, Whataburgers, milkshakes, and playing volleyball; and was a devoted fan of the Houston Astros, Oilers, Texans, and Rockets. She could sew, play the piano, ride a horse, create culinary delights on a camp stove, and edge the yard with a pair of hand clippers. She joyfully practiced hosting and hospitality. She taught us to sing the Doxology every time the odometer turned another 100 miles on family vacations. She made sure we observed every liturgical season and feast day in the Church year. She was a 15-year cancer survivor. Especially in her later years, she always had a batch of cookie dough in the refrigerator ready to bake at a moment's notice for anyone coming to the house.

Betty's husband of 65 years preceded her in death, as did her parents and her sister, Janice Costa, who died just eight days before Betty. She is survived by her children, Frances Rickard (John) of Austin, Beth Rogers (William) of La Marque, and John Jacobson (Dru Forrester) of Lawrence, Kansas; her grandchildren, James Rickard, Anne McGonigle (Josh), Catherine Woodin (Ken), William Rogers (Katie), Peter Rogers, and Sarah Jacobson (Thomas Ordway); her great-grandchildren, Madison McGonigle, Jackson McGonigle, Alester Woodin, Theodore Ordway, and a baby girl due in July; and a niece and a nephew. We will miss her beautiful smile and infectious laugh but will always carry her in our hearts.

The family wishes to thank especially Raquel Balderas, Julie Hackett, and Darlene Gilmore for their loving care of Betty over the last year of her life.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 7, at 2:00 p.m., at Calvary Episcopal Church, 806 Thompson Road, Richmond, with a reception to follow in the parish hall. The service will be livestreamed on Calvary's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@calvaryrichmondtexas8001). Interment of her ashes will occur at a later date at her beloved Adelynrood.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Camp Allen to support the Summer Camp Scholarship Fund (18800 FM 362, Navasota, TX 77868, or online at campallen.org), to a food bank or other feeding ministry, or a charity of your choice.

Well done, good and faithful servant. (Matthew 25:23)