Betty Doris Hamilton LaRoe was born July 28, 1934, in Lubbock, Texas, to Doris Owen and C. H. (Brownie) Hamilton. She attended Lubbock Public Schools graduating from Lubbock High School in 1952, where she was “girl of the month” and a member of Who’s Who in the senior class. At Texas Tech University, she was a member of the Ko Shari social club and the Pi Beta Phi sorority, Texas Gamma Chapter. In 1953, she renewed her “friendship” with former friend Larry LaRoe and the love affair began on July 28, 1956, until February 10, 2015, when Larry died. They were blessed with two children, a son, Mark Hamilton LaRoe (Dianne), whose children are Hamilton (Lauren), Annie and Trotter LaRoe all of Dallas; and daughter Betsy D’Anne Burns (Dan), whose children are Jill Ellison (Matt), Ryan (Samantha), and Shayne Burns, all of Lubbock. They were also blessed with two great-grandchildren, Caden and Blakely Ellison. She is also survived by her beloved East Coast family of John Burns.
When her youngest started to school, Betty Doris began substituting at Haynes Elementary so she could be close to her kids. She volunteered in each and everything that her kids were involved in, and she felt very blessed by that. Upon completion of her children’s education, Betty Doris took up another one of her loves, acting in musical theater. She performed in Music Man twice, Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, Princess and the Pea, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Anything Goes, and Twenty Years off Broadway. Her former choir director once stated that she was the only one he knew that could stand in the middle of Jones Stadium and be heard in all four corners, to which she replied, “My mommy and daddy spent good money for me to learn to do that!.” As arthritis, hip and knee problems began to take their toll on her, she found another outlet. She would take new books that she found amusing and worked them into programs using Larry as a guinea pig and always selling out the Lubbock Women’s Club. She dearly loved doing this. Her knowledge of knowing foreign dialects helped in presentation of her many entertaining programs. Betty was also a member of PEO, Chapter AK and many city Bible study groups. She was loved by many and will be missed by many.
