Betty Jeanne Pace Dodd

Betty Jeanne Pace Dodd, 85, passed away at her home in Brownsville, Texas on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Mrs. Dodd was a native and lifetime resident of Brownsville.

Betty was a graduate of Brownsville High School. She graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX with a B.A. in History and Government. She taught in the Cameron Co. school system and the Los Fresnos School District. She joined her father at Pace Grocery and James Pace Ship Stores as Bookkeeper and later Manager, where she served until she sold the business in 1984.

Betty always had a keen interest in history and after her retirement, she began researching her familys genealogy. She earned membership in the D.A.R., the D.R.T., San Jacinto Descendants, Daughters of Founders and Patriots, Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Jamestown Society, Colonial Clergy, Daughters of American Colonists, and the Sons and Daughters of Pilgrims. Betty served two terms as Regent of the Du BoisHite Chapter, and was an honorary Regent of that chapter. She served as Registrar and Treasurer of The Texas Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Betty has also served as an officer in many of the other hereditary societies.

In 1989, she was appointed to the City College Library Board by the City Commission. Within a year of her appointment, the citizens of Brownsville were voting on building a public library. The library opened in May of 1994 on Central Blvd. It was with the help of her board members that this tremendous undertaking was accomplished. To many citizens she is considered the Mother of the present library system in Brownsville. At the same time, with the aid of the citizens of Brownsville, Betty organized the Brownsville Public Library Foundation, which raised an additional 500,000 for the librarys needs.

Betty was honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the Brownsville Rotary Club, and she received the Woman of the Year award from the Zonta Club. Betty was also honored as the Citizen of the year by the Brownsville Heritage Museum. Governor George W. Bush commissioned her as a Yellow Rose of Texas in 1996.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Franklin Smith Dodd and her parents, James Wilburn Pace and Zenobia Gilmore Pace.

Betty is survived by her sons, Franklin Smith Dodd and Mathew Gilmore Dodd her sister, Mozelle Pace Friday her brothers, James W. Darlene Pace and Pat L. Mary Jo Pace, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and other extended family members.

A Memorial Service in celebration of Bettys life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2013, at the First Presbyterian Church, 435 Palm Blvd.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Bettys name may be made to the Brownsville Society for Crippled Children, 1901 East 22nd Street, Brownsville, Texas 78521 and or the Brownsville Public Library, 2600 Central Blvd., Brownsville, TX 78520.

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