Betty Lou Skiff Obituary (1925 - 2016)

In 1956 Betty Lou Kier, a young widow with two little girls, met a tall Marine when he joined the choir of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Houston. A year later she and Tom Skiff were married to the joy of her daughters, Kathy and Trudy whom Tom adopted. She graduated from Austin High School at 16, entered Rice University and at 19 eloped with her childhood beau, Ervin Kier, before his deployment to the South Pacific. She returned to complete her Rice degree that year. In 1951 Ervin died a tragic death by cerebral hemorrhage. Betty Lou and Tom have spent all their married life singing in their church choirs. They have been wonderful parents to their daughters and have had lasting friendships with their extended church family. After fifty years in Houston, Betty Lou and Tom relocated to Georgetown in 2008 and have been living at Court Assisted Living in Round Rock since 2015. She passed away in her sleep with Pappy by her side. Betty Lou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on February 16, 1925 to her parents, Ella Gehring and Bert E. Jarrell. Left to remember Betty Lou are her husband, Thomas Skiff; her daughters, Kathryn Skiff Rycaj (husband Jerry Rycaj) and Trudy Kier Skiff Laifer; her granddaughters, Kiera Rycaj, Michele Rycaj Hines (husband Baxter Hines) and Alessandra Laifer; her two great-grandchildren, Christian and Thomas Hines; her cousin Sara Ann Gehring; and her St. Timothy's extended family. Betty Lou donated her body to Baylor Medical School.