Bettye Louise Harris

Bettye Louise Mcdonald was born on August 25th, 1934 in Muskogee, Oklahoma to Estelle and Woodrow Wilson McDonald. She passed away on October 27, 2021 at the age of 87.

Bettye was an only child, but enjoyed time spent with many cousins. She spent most of her summers at the McDonald farm, working in the garden and helping with the chickens. When she grew up, she never wanted to live on a farm again!

As a child, she attended tent revivals and gospel singing with her Mom. She accepted Jesus Christ as her savior, and was baptized in the Baptist Church while young.
She loved music and taught herself to play the piano. One of her favorite tunes was "Mansion over the hilltop". She never had a lesson, and could read music, but played mostly by ear. She was shy about performing in front of others, and capturing her playing had to be done secretly.

Bettye grew up during the Depression, and times were hard. Remembering that, she always did her best to make all holidays special for her family. She believed in giving the best gifts she could, citing a childhood story about receiving a playball for Christmas, instead of a real basketball that she had asked for. Her children and grandchildren always got the "real thing". Her Grandson Billy shared a story about how she loved "spoiling" her family. She took him shopping and bought the very expensive GUESS jeans, which she had on herself. He said she was the Coolest Grandma ever!

She attended school in Chouteau, and loved playing basketball on the school team. Her love of Basketball continued with the OKC Thunder. She was thrilled when her Grandson Billy took her to see them play in person. She also enjoyed watching her great grandson Barron and great granddaughter Elinor play basketball. She never got to see her great-granddaughter Kaelee play, but was very excited to hear about her skills.

Her love of sports, and her husband's coaching/umpire efforts led her to be a "Baseball Mom". She and Don "adopted" many of the Westside boys. She had a tiny blue letterman's jacket made for her first grandson, Billy, when he was 3 months old because she took him to all of the games. She sacrificed her time/money to provide for her family, and she spent many hours "on the bench" watching and cheering for them during football, soccer, baseball, cheer, dance activities.

Bowling was a favorite sport. She had a 300 perfect game, and many 200 game pins. Bowling on a team with Don meant time away from the kids! Billy remembered that she always took him with her to her bowling league games. As a kid, it was the highlight of his weekend to go with her. Because she took her bowling very seriously, she distracted him by giving him money for the arcade games. "There is no happier feeling than being a kid in the 1980's with $5.00 worth of quarters in your pocket!" He always knew that if he ran out, Grandma would come through with another few quarters.

She married her first love, Otis Clinton Crow, Jr. on August 24, 1951 at the age of 16. She turned 17 the next day. They had two children, Connie Crow and Kevin Crow. Otis Crow died in 1968.

She married Don Harris on June 4, 1966, and became the mother to his 3 children, Michael, Kim, and Debbie Harris. Together they raised their 5 children in a small house with 1 bathroom, but a lot of love.

She worked full time while raising 5 children, teaching them to love God and family. She always made sure that they had a good breakfast, even though she had to leave early to get to work. A large pot of oatmeal was ready when we got up, lunch money was on the counter, and after school snacks were ready.

Bettye trained at the Draughn School of Business in Tulsa and worked for the Hale-Halsell company processing the company payroll for over 35 years. She was a one woman department and had many friends there. She retired from Hale-Halsell, but continued to enjoy her friendships there with group dinners, and phone calls.
Special memories of time at Grand Lake: She made a special effort to sign up for the Hale-Halsell cabin for the 4th of July every summer. With 5 kids to feed, money was tight, but on these trips she always bought the special ice cream treats. Fudge bars, Dreamcicles, and Drumsticks! No cheap popsicles on these trips! She splurged on huge steaks for the final night cookout. Over the years, as the kids go older, their friends were invited along to come to the lake. Everyone was initiated into the most serious Card games, which were dog eat dog!

Bettye suffered a Health scare in her 60's and had to have a heart valve replacement. The doctor explained that they used a cow valve for the replacement. Upon hearing this, her grandson Corey promptly bought her a stuffed cow that moo-ed. Many laughs over that one.

Bettye lost Don unexpectedly in 2011, and her life changed drastically. He was her rock! She continued to take great pride in her home and yard, and grew beautiful roses and orchids.

She had a great love for animals, and spoiled them completely. They became her children, when the others had left home. Her beloved dog Dallas, and her "Grand dogs" Duke, Rambo and Thor gained weight under her loving care! She had many cats over the years, with creative names like Asso, Nike, Zorro, and Spot.

Bettye loved her crossword puzzle in the Tulsa Daily World, until her failing eyesight prevented her from working them anymore. She would even drive into town at Grand Lake to buy the Tulsa paper! She watched Jeopardy daily, but never said the answers out loud. She was probably a real champion!

She enjoyed cooking and collecting recipes, which she obtained from many pot luck dinners at work and church. Some of these were questionable: Pork and Bean cake?? She was a fan of the Pioneer Woman cooking show. Enjoyed Rachel Ray, but didn't like that she always had alcohol drinks on her show. She dropped a Rachel Ray knife on her toe one day, cutting right through the tendon, needing surgery to reattach it. (No alcohol was involved) Though she never drank herself, alcohol problems with others negatively impacted her life, and she encouraged her family to not take that path.

Bettye is survived by her 5 children, Connie (David) Clark; Debbie (Dennis) Welch; Kevin (Tammy) Crow; Michael Harris; Kim (Alan) Harper, and her 5 Grandchildren: Billy (Mallory) Clark; Jason (Isabel) Radebaugh; Corey (Jenny) Crow; Jennifer Uranga; Cullen (Clarissa) Crow. She will be missed by her numerous great-grandchildren. Preceding her in death are her spouse, Don Harris; former spouse Otis Crow Jr; Son in law Coy Casey and daughter in law Veronica Harris.

She led her life by example with a generous heart, strong compassion, and a desire to help others. Heaven will be a much brighter place when she arrives!