Betty Kathryn Roth was born on February 17, 1934 to Vincent DePaul and Mary Lillian Roth (nee’) Ray. She was the youngest of two children. Her sister, Mary Ellen (Patsy) Roth was 7 years her senior. Vincent passed away of Pneumonia in 1940 at the age of only 40, leaving Mary to raise Betty and her sister Patsy. While difficult, Mary would provide Betty and Patsy a home filled with love. Betty followed in her mother’s footsteps (Mary was a long time employee of the Del Rio National Bank) and pursued a career in bookkeeping and accounting upon graduation from Del Rio High School in 1951. Betty attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos, TX (now known as Texas State University) to pursue an education in bookkeeping and finance. Upon her return to Del Rio, Betty worked for the Del Rio National Bank, Crosby & Rust an appliance store in Del Rio, Haynes Motor Company, Rio Chrysler, Monroe Motor Company, Dayton Homes, Howard Chevrolet, Producers Wool & Mohair and Graf & Barton Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, all in the bookkeeping and accounting fields. After moving to El Paso, she was promoted to the position of Secretary-Treasurer of Vision Ford-Lincoln-Mercury in Alamogordo, NM, a position she would hold until partial retirement in 1997. In 1969, Betty became a parent, a single parent (an unusual feat for a single woman at the time) of a 9 lb. baby boy she named Todd through adoption. With the help of her mother Mary, she raised Todd as a single parent. Attending St. James Episcopal Church and teaching Sunday School there for a number of years, she lived and loved to teach others the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In 1981, Betty met the love of her life, Robert (Bob) Haxton. She and Bob were married in October 1981 and she and Todd moved away from Del Rio to east Texas to begin their new life. Betty and Todd instantly acquired a new family as Bob had two grown sons, Ricky and Lenny and a teenage daughter Patricia. In 1983 with Mary living alone in Del Rio and aging to the point where she needed assistance, Betty, Bob, Patricia and Todd moved back to Del Rio to assist and be near to Betty’s mother Mary. Mary passed in 1986 at the age of 89. Betty and Bob continued life in Del Rio with Todd graduating from Del Rio High School in 1987, and Patricia working at Mary and Betty’s alma mater the Del Rio National Bank. Betty and Bob’s love affair wasn’t to last however, Bob passed away in 1988 far before his time. Betty never remarried. Patricia married and began her family in 1989 with the birth of Betty’s first Del Rio grandchild, Kathryn Margaret Riegel. In 1992 when Patricia’s husband James received a promotion and was transferred from Del Rio to El Paso, it wouldn’t be long before the distance proved to be too much. Betty moved from Del Rio to El Paso in November 1992, followed by Todd in June 1993 (he never could stray too far away from Mama’s cooking!) El Paso would be home to Betty for the next 20 years. In 2013, Betty pulled up stakes again to accompany Todd and his companion Olga to Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix was home until 2016, when Olga’s father in El Paso became terminally ill and Olga needed to be back home with him in El Paso. By this time, suffering from severe arthritis and the trials, aches and pains of 82 years, Betty moved back to El Paso with Todd and Olga. It was with Todd and Olga that Betty would live out the rest of her years in El Paso, ultimately battling dementia the last two and a half years of her life. Betty was the best mother anyone could have ever wished for. She was loved by many, respected by all and led a true life of service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A staunch conservative Christian (Episcopalian) Republican (she loved Donald Trump), I still have the stacks of campaign donation requests from Trump addressed to her to prove it! After a brief battle with the complications from late stage dementia, Betty passed peacefully in her sleep surrounded by family on the evening of September 19, 2024 at home. Our family would like to express our most sincere thanks and gratitude for the love and care provided by Betty’s long time care provider, Pauline Morales. We would also like to thank the caring expert staff of AM Home Hospice of El Paso for their care and guidance during her journey home, and her doctor, Shailen Mhapsekar, M.D. of WellMed Lee Trevino, El Paso for his expert care and guidance in her care. Waiting to greet Betty in heaven were her father, Vincent DePaul, mother Mary, sister Patsy, husband Bob, cousins, Mildred and Dean Hildreth, Jeanette and Ken Hildreth to name but a few. Left to cherish her memory are her son Todd Roth and his companion Olga Daly of El Paso, daughter Patricia Haxton, son Lenny Haxton and family, grandchildren; James Haxton and family, Patrick Haxton and family, Amanda Haxton and family, Melissa Haxton, Miranda Haxton Ellis and Ricky Ellis and family of Gladewater, TX, Kathryn Margaret Riegel of Washington, D.C. and Pepper Riegel. Nieces and nephews; Doug and Tony Salinas Hildreth of San Antonio, TX, Michael and Julia Hildreth and family of Del Rio, TX, Karen Hildreth of Del Rio, TX, Lance and Susan Hildreth and family of Del Rio, TX, Tracy Hildreth of Del Rio, TX.
