Betty Louise Garretson

Betty Louise Garretson was born in Tampa, FL, and was raised primarily in Shreveport, LA, where she graduated from Fair Park High School in 1961. She attended Harding College in Searcy, AR, and was active in Drama, Orchestra, Acapella Choir, and May Day Festivities. She married Norman Tubb in 1963 and moved to Little Rock, AR, while Norman completed Medical School. Betty earned her Elementary Education degree from Little Rock University in 1965 and started teaching kindergarten soon after.

Betty was a voracious reader and life-long learner. She attended eight different colleges and earned 422 college credits. She received a Master’s of Education in Counseling, a Master of Arts in Drama, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Arkansas. 

She loved the arts and sang, acted, and played the piano and viola. She acted in many plays throughout adulthood including playing the lead role in college in the production of “Joan of Arc.” She continued to attend plays, concerts, and symphony performances at the Walton Arts Center and Theatre Squared throughout her life.

Betty was always attracted to antiques and spent a lot of her time refinishing furniture and collecting antiques. She owned and operated her own antique shop for a time, attended many shows and frequently took her son Mike to help with set up. She went to War Eagle each year and brought home many treasures and antiques from local artists. She was always interested in design and used her skills to remodel three houses and decorate and design sets in many drama productions. She, Norman, and the kids raised chickens for Tyson, and they operated a trout farm that sold trout to local restaurants.

Betty taught school or worked as a school counselor most of her life. After moving to Springdale, AR in 1972, she taught English at Central Junior High and Gifted and Talented at Southwest and Central Junior High Schools. She moved to Seattle, WA and was a counselor there before returning again to Northwest Arkansas. She was a counselor at Woodland Junior High, Eureka Springs Elementary, and retired from Siloam Springs High School in 2012. 

Betty is preceded in death by her father, William Lyle “Bill” Garretson, an Air Force pilot killed in action, her mother, Louise Ida Rogers Garretson Tyler, and her father, George Melton Tyler. She is survived by children Joan Ricks and husband Mark of Claremore, OK, Michael Tubb and wife Luzanna of Fayetteville, AR, and Catherine Price of San Francisco, CA, and grandchildren, Kara Tubb, Zane Ricks, Avery Tubb, Myra Tubb, Jared Tubb, Ryker Dietz.