North Richland Hills, Texas -- Betsy Esslinger, loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother is survived by her eldest daughter, Kimberly Evans and her husband, Dennis; her eldest son, Timothy Esslinger, and her youngest daughter, Jennifer Cruze and her husband, Dennis. Both her son, Keith Esslinger, and her husband of 56 years, David Roy Esslinger preceded her in death.

Additionally, she is survived by nine grandchildren: Jason Karbach, Amy Jewell, Maxwell Appel, Nathaniel Cruze, Miranda Cruze, Samantha Morrison, Aaron Esslinger, Haley Esslinger, and Nikki Rios, along with nine great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother Michael Reece and his wife, Pat.

Betsy was born in Bonham, Texas, where she lived in a small rural community surrounded by her loving parents, Betty and Elmo Reece, and grandparents Lon and Gladys WIlliams. During her years at Bonham High School, she was an active Bonham Warrior. She loved to play the flute in the high school band but also mixed it
up on the ladies’ basketball team. Her best friends, Veta McCullough and Nita Hewitt, from these amazing days were still her best friends the day she passed. They can both confirm that Betsy met her future husband while she was at Bonham State Park dancing at the gazebo.

The gazebo had a jukebox and an outdoor dance space that was attracting youth from all over; including, young military men like David Roy Esslinger. Shortly after they met in the winter of 1954-55, David carefully pulled Betsy through her bedroom window, and they eloped - Betsy was wearing her silver lame’ prom dress. She married David Roy Esslinger in 1955 and they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was employed as a civilian employee at Kirtland Air Force Base.

Betsy loved the desert southwest, the Grand Canyon, and to say the least, Betsy liked to gamble and had an entrepreneurial spirit. Betsy loved going to Las Vegas and anyone who knew Betsy knew how much she loved Vegas. She loved playing progressive poker machines, but she was always responsible with her funds. She had this great envelope system. And when that envelope was empty, it was time to go home.

Betsy loved animals, but she especially loved dogs. There was not a time when Betsy did not have at least one dog. She had all different kinds of dogs throughout her life from pomeranians, corgis, mutts, schnauzers, poodles, chihuahuas, and huskies to name a few. One thing remained true no matter the breed - the dog would be loved and adored, period.

Betsy and David eventually returned to Texas after he left the Air Force. Betsy was a dedicated wife and mother and returned to school once all the children were in school themselves. Betsy studied real estate and became a real estate agent. Eventually, Betsy wasn’t satisfied working for someone else and wanted to be her own boss.

Betsy’s strong entrepreneurial spirit led her to start her own real estate company, All About Apartments, in the 1980s. Her company would help you locate an apartment. She single handedly signed contracts with every property in the metroplex to secure the first month’s rent of anyone she referred that was approved for move-in. This was a serious under-taking. She had the properties down, name changes down, floor plans down, all-bills-paid down, and everything else. She could drive by properties and tell you the floor plans or if they had washer/dryer connections.

She also had a retail wallpaper store on Pipeline Road in Hurst, Texas. Her passion for running her own successful small businesses indubitably rubbed-off on her daughter, Kim Evans, who started her own successful business, Family First Drug Testing.

Betsy was a great cook, too. She was known for her homemade rolls and cornbread stuffing she made only at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her entire kitchen and back room was filled with cookie sheets of rising rolls when family and guests started arriving. The heavenly smell that filled the air once they began to cook meant it was almost mealtime, and many a family member was overcome by temptation and snuck into the kitchen to grab a hot roll out of the bread basket while Betsy wasn’t looking. And her cornbread stuffing was really indescribable and the recipe is quite complex. This is the one dish she always made sure was exactly spot on because she loved it, too.

As Betsy aged and David passed, her dementia finally overcame her coping skills - so she spent the last few years in the nursing home. We would like to thank
the nursing staff and the leadership team at Glenview Wellness and Rehab in North Richland Hills for taking such good care of our mother, grandmother, and
great-grandmother. We especially want to recognize Graydon Stroud, Entertainment Director, for everything he did to ensure that families could communicate effectively during the pandemic and more importantly, scheduling amazing games like bingo so Betsy could laugh and compete like she loved to do! When cleaning out Betsy’s dresser drawers, she had squirrelled away a great deal of paper play money she had won over the past couple of years. She had it bundled and organized with rubber bands like she was in the money laundering business.

We would also like to thank Twilight Hospice Services and her nurse, Irene.

Betsy will be greatly missed by many; but especially by her best friends Veta McCullough and Nita Hewitt of Bonham. Please send all of your extra love and prayers their way.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, January 5 at Shannon Dignity Funeral Home at 6001 Rufe Snow, North Richland Hills, TX. She will be interned with her husband on Wednesday, January 11 at 11:30 a.m. at the DFW National Cemetery.