Woodward County Obituary
Elmwood Cemetery

© Billings Funeral Home
WOODWARD, WOODWARD CO, OK
(permission granted)
Submitted by: Ann Weber

Betty Geraldine Lippard Marlatt

February 25, 1935 ~ December 14, 2018

Betty Geraldine Lippard entered this world on February 25, 1935, in Moran, Texas to Eugene Victor Lippard and Jewell Okla Patterson Lippard. She departed this life on December 14, 2018, in Edmond, Oklahoma. A celebration of Betty’s life will be held on Wednesday, December 19, at 1pm, at Billings Funeral Home in Woodward, Oklahoma.

Betty was the oldest of three siblings. Her dad, Vic, worked in the oil and gas business moving the family several times throughout western Texas during Betty’s childhood. By the time she was in high school, the family had moved to Ringwood, Oklahoma where she met her true love and life partner, Lesly Allen Marlatt. Betty and Lesly were married in Ringwood on July 13, 1952. They moved to Hobbs, New Mexico for a few months before returning to Alva, Oklahoma so Lesly could attend college. After a brief stent in college, Lesly and Betty moved to Enid, Oklahoma. While in Enid, Betty and Les welcomed children to their family with the births of Steven Allen in 1954, and Ricky Lynn in 1957.

The family moved to Woodward, Oklahoma, and in 1964 Lesly opened Marlatt Auto Supply Store. While Lesly built, operated and grew the business, Betty took great pride in its success. Betty and Lesly’s family continued to grow while they lived in Woodward with the addition of Timothy Dale in 1960, and David Lee in 1962. But somehow they knew their family was not yet complete. In 1967 they welcomed 10 month-old Leslie Delaine from Korea, into their lives and then in 1972, 18 month old Geri Danielle, also from Korea, joined their family.

Betty was a devoted member of the Woodward Church of Christ and was active as long as she was physically able. She was a founding member of the church’s Joy Bus program, and cooked for or hosted numerous pot luck dinners, wedding and baby showers, and teen events – all while supporting Lesly in his role as an elder.

Betty was homemaker and mother in the grandest sense. As an avid and talented seamstress, she was a member of the Home Extension Club. She was constantly making clothing, crafts and Halloween costumes for her children and grandchildren. It was not unusual for Betty to make all the costumes for one of her kid’s theatre productions. For Betty, the inside of a garment had to be as perfect as the outside.

Above all, Betty was committed to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Nothing made her happier than to have everyone together for holidays, special occasions or a simple Sunday afternoon. During these occasions, in the midst of all the noise and chaos, Betty could always be found in the corner with a glass of ice tea in her hand, talking with whomever was near or simply watching from a distance. Betty would never open a Christmas gift until everyone else had opened all of theirs first and she made sure there were plenty of gifts to open. Just as she did at Christmas, Betty always put her family’s needs first and hers second.

Residents of Woodward County for 58 years, Lesly and Betty moved to Oklahoma City in Fall 2016. On July 3, 2017, Lesly passed from this life. Betty spent the remaining 18 months of her life at Tealridge Assisted Living Center in Edmond, Oklahoma. In addition to Lesly, she is preceded in death by her parents and her grandson, Steven Allen Marlatt II.

Betty is survived by her sons, Steve Marlatt and Julie Marlatt of Woodward; Rick Marlatt and John Carroccio of Woodbridge, Virginia; Tim and Kim Marlatt of Tampa, Florida; and David and Denise Marlatt of Katy, Texas; her daughters, Leslie and Darrel Davis of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Geri and Eric Cope of St. Louis, Missouri; 14 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren with a 14th due in January; one great-great-grandchild; her brother, E.V. and Judy Lippard of Enid, Oklahoma; her sister, Gloria Faye Fox of Woodward; and one sister-in-law, Edna Mae Marlatt of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.. She touched the hearts and lives of many and