- Date Of Birth: June 20, 1926
- Date Of Death: May 24, 2023
- State: New Mexico
Betty Russell Morton passed away Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the age of 96. She was a 51-year resident in Albuquerque. She was born in 1926 to Harvey Nual Russell and Juanita Cravens Russell in Temple Texas. She was raised in Fort Worth Texas where she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Paschal High School. She excelled in academics, and at violin, first with the symphony orchestra at Paschal, and later she was selected for the Fort Worth Junior Symphony Orchestra. She lettered on the Varsity Tennis team, was in National Honors Society, and was President of Phi Chi Psi Sorority both her Jr. and Sr. year.
She graduated with High Honors Distinction from Southern Methodist University, obtaining degrees in Psychology and Business. She was a member of Phi Chi Theta in the Business School and Psy Chi Honors in Psychology. She was elected as an Officer on the SMU Student Council, and was chosen as a member of KIRKOS, (Outstanding Women on SMU Campus). She was an officer in her sorority at SMU, Delta Delta Delta, and she was a very active Tri-Delt alumni for many years while she lived in Texas.
Along with her husband, A.C. Morton, Jr., she was a founding Charter member of Sandia Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque and was active in the church as a teacher, a Deacon, in Bible Study, and as a Stephen Minister since 1990 when the church was formed. Her faith and her church were very important to her, and much of her week centered around her church friends, activities and involvements.
She was an ardent supporter of the University New Mexico Lobos athletics and held the same season tickets for Lobo’s basketball for 45 years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, and her husband, A. C. Morton, Jr. She is survived by her four children: Carron Morton Hardin and her husband Mike, Lucy Morton Fennema and her husband Russ, R. Russell Morton and his wife Ann, Douglas Morton and his wife Karen. She has 10 grandchildren: Olivia Cayce, Russell Fennema III, Matthew Fennema and his wife Heather, Nicholas Richardson, Katherine Morton Marshall and her husband Chad, Robert Morton and Vanessa Cabrera, Madeline Morton, Michael Hardin and his wife Morgan, Colin Morton and his wife Michelle, Kyle Morton and Maddie Grove. She also has 5 great grandchildren, Connor and Aiden Fennema, Winter and George Ewbanks, and Allison Grace Marshall.
The family would like to thank the caregivers from “Right at Home” all of the people at the Watermark at Cherry Hills where she lived, and special thanks to Presbyterian Hospital inpatient hospice unit.
