Betty Lynn (Stout) Styles

Betty Lynn Styles, Last of the Miller Creek Cowgirls

November 21, 1933 - February 5, 2022

Betty Lynn Stout Styles, 88, of Seymour passed away peacefully from natural causes Saturday, February 5, 2022.  Graveside services in Seymour Masonic Cemetery will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, February 12, 2022.  Visitation will be 5 to 6:30 Friday evening in Archer Funeral Home of Seymour.

Betty was born in Seymour November 21, 1933, to Lowe and Alice Robertson Stout.  The fourth of seven siblings, Betty was their first baby born in a hospital.  From a very young age, she enjoyed spending time outdoors with her daddy.  She loved ranch life, cattle, horses, rodeos, parades, and grand entries. A skilled horsewoman, she was the happiest horseback riding. She loved it all:  receiving, branding, feeding, watering, doctoring, and shipping cattle.  She retained a knowledge of the cattle industry and had an uncanny  ability to estimate the payweight of cattle.

Betty rode in a black panel-wagon van with bench seats four miles to a one-room school, Mary’s Creek. The school was heated by a coal stove, had no running water, and the outhouse often had a black widow spider on the wall. She rode a bright blue bus to Seymour High School and  graduated in 1951. She attended Texas Tech College and studied animal husbandry. A trailblazer, she was the only girl in many of her classes. A highlight of Betty’s college years was being the designated hostess for Audie Murphy, the 1953 ABC Rodeo Parade Marshal. She rode horseback alongside Murphy, the most decorated war hero of World War II and a famous movie actor, at the head of the ABC Rodeo Parade. A member of the Texas Tech Rodeo Association, she also organized the Equestrian Square Dance Quadrille for the 1953 Texas Tech Rodeo.

In 1952 and 1953, Betty hosted the barrel racers for the Seymour rodeo. As the chairwoman of the event, she set the pattern for the competition on her horse, Amarillo. Many decades she rode in the Seymour rodeo parade and the grand entry.  At 81 years young, she rode horseback in the 2015 parade.

In 1954, she was employed in the office of the Seymour Livestock Auction. She worked at B-K Electric Coop until 1969.

After a ten-year courtship, Betty married Wesley Styles on Flag Day, June 14, 1963. They were proud that American flags always waved on their anniversary.  While Wesley was Baylor County Sheriff, Betty cooked for the inmates; some wanted to stay in jail for the delicious food. In 1969, Wesley received his Texas Ranger badge and the couple moved to Huntsville.  She carried a pistol at all times and was proud of the many rattlesnakes she shot between the eyes. Always working, she kept books for the Huntsville Livestock Auction. Wesley passed on September 2, 1998.

As soon as Betty’s nieces and nephews could talk, Aunt Betty would ask them, “Who is the best cook in the whole wide world?” Along with being a great cook, Betty enjoyed reading the Bible, feeding and watching wild birds, and drinking coffee with friends at the Rock Inn Cafe. She was very interested in the museums in Seymour and supported the Cache Creek Cemetery. Cousin Manford Elliott and she placed flags on the graves on many Memorial Days.

Betty dressed for the occasion.  She loved white shirts, starched and creased Wranglers, beautiful boots, leather belts, and shiny buckles; along with silk dresses and high heels from Neiman-Marcus and beautiful apparel purchased from Lane Felker in Haskell.

Betty was a member of American Quarter Horse Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Rangers Association Foundation, Working Ranch Cowboy Association, Cache Creek Cemetery, and Former Texas Rangers Association.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Wesley; her parents, Alice and Lowe Stout; siblings, Jack Stout, Patsy Cooper, Jo Alice Stout, and infant brother, William Frank “Twinkie”; nieces, Phyllis Cooper and Ashley Holt; nephews, Kaven Stout and Infant Boy Holt.

She is survived by her brother, Jimmy (Jo R) Stout; sister, Trixie Holt of Gruver; sister in law, Anne Stout; in laws, Jackie and Buster Styles of Holliday, and Henrietta and James Styles; Stout nieces and nephews, Alice Cooper Peters, Jimmy Lynn Stout, Wendy Jones , Marilyn Miller, Molly Urbanczyk, Mark Stout, Paige Speck, Holly Key, Sally Meek, Brooke Ruhlin, and Roxane Holt; Styles nieces and nephews, Rick Styles, Dianne Welch, Angela Ferrell, Farley Styles, Steve Greener, Lisa Hamper, Sharon Thomas, Gary Benson, Mark Styles, Kirk Styles, Laurie Broussard, Chris Styles, Jeff Styles, and Cindy Coltharp, and a stampede of great nieces, great nephews, and cousins. Betty Lynn’s family extends deep appreciation to the loving caregivers at Just Like Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Cache Creek Cemetery Association, Attn: Carolyn Bomberger, 6283 FM 1152, Seymour, Texas, 76380.