Betty E Abbitt

Betty Listen Abbitt

5/26/33 - 1/18/24

On May 26, 1933, Jackson Douglas Thomas and Eva Mae Lewis Thomas welcomed their one and only beautiful baby girl, Betty Erlene Thomas. Betty was her daddy’s girl. He used to call her “Betts”. She was her mom’s pride and joy.

Betty attended Red Top and then Jones High School. She enjoyed singing in the glee club, won 2 typing contests and graduated Valedictorian. After graduating, Betty worked for 6 years for the Oklahoma Inspection Bureau making $130 a month. She paid $25 a month rent and had saved $1,000 after those 6 years. She bought her first car at the age of 23 - a green two-tone 1956 Ford Fairlane.

After dating for 7 years, Betty married Bob Listen. Bob always said he was waiting on a good peanut crop before they could get married. Bob & Betty had their three biggest blessings with the births of Bart, Jackie and Bobby. She loved her boys and was so very proud of them. Betty was faithful to teach them about Jesus and raised the boys in church. She worked as a full-time home executive, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry for her hard-working farm boys. She also bottle-fed dairy calves daily and anything else around the farm that needed to be done. After 19 years of marriage, Betty and Bob divorced.

In 1974, Betty started working in Accounts Receivable at the Oklahoma County Courthouse, where she retired from in 1994. Betty was single for 18 years, and knew God had a plan for her life if she was just patient enough. While working at the OKC stockyards, her daughter-in-law Alecia met a man named Ronnie Abbitt. She introduced Betty to Ronnie. They hit it off, and she finally saw God’s plan for her life. On February 14, 1995, Betty and Ronnie married. They moved to Fort Cobb to live by the lake and thoroughly enjoyed their life together. They traveled, watched deer, and loved every minute of life. They lovingly cared for Betty’s mom until she passed in 2002.

After losing Ronnie in 2005, Betty went back to work at McClain Bank in May of 2008, and worked another 10.5 years until she retired a second time in November of 2018.

Betty met Jesus face to face on January 18, 2024. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ronnie Abbitt, and her parents. She is survived by her children: Bart Listen, Jackie and Paula Listen, and Bobby and Alecia Listen; her grandchildren: Chelsea DeBord and husband Josh, Jed Listen, Collin Listen and wife Corley, Kaylin Listen and Madison Cullum; and her great-grandchildren: Jase Jackson, Sloan McCall, Savannah Rain and Maverick Von. Betty loved her family with all her heart.

A celebration of her life will be held at 10:00am on Friday, January 26, 2024, at Asa Smith Funeral Home, 2039 Tim Holt Dr, Harrah, OK 73045. Interment to follow at Jones IOOF Cemetery.

When you remember Betty, please remember a kind, patient soul that always loved God and dearly loved her family.