"Jeff I am so sorry to learn of your loss. Jeff I know you were very close to your Mother and know she had a wonderful life and family. My heartfelt sympathies go out to you and your family at such a trying time in your life. My prayers are with you all."
In loving memory of
Bette Hess Anderson
March 19, 1925 - April 25, 2011
Bette Hess Anderson, beloved mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, passed peacefully from this life on April 25, 2011, in Austin, TX. Bette Van Dyke Hess, born March 19, 1925 in Philadelphia, was the only child of Ada Elizabeth Small Hess and West Point graduate, Brigadier General Walter Wood Hess. Bette attended school in the Germantown area of Philadelphia and studied at the University of Texas at Austin. During her father's deployment to Europe in WWII, Bette and her mother resided in San Antonio, TX. In 1946, after WWII ended, Bette met her future husband, Major Richard Clement (Andy) Anderson (US Army Air Corps), at the Officer's Club at Fort Bragg, NC on his 27th birthday. Andy said Bette was "the prettiest girl I ever saw." They were married on June 29, 1947 at Fort McPherson in Andy's hometown of Atlanta. Bette and Andy led a life filled with love, laughter and many moves with their children. Bette was the consummate officer's wife. Her motto was "make friends fast - you never know when you'll get orders to move again." During their military life together, Bette and Andy lived in Dayton, OH; Annapolis, MD; Cocoa Beach, FL; McLean, VA, and Palos Verde, CA. In 1966, having achieved the rank of Colonel, Andy retired from the US Air Force and he and Bette moved to their new civilian home in Saratoga, CA. They lived happily at 19296 Harleigh Drive for 37 years, surrounded by former military friends and forging new, lifelong relationships as members of La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos. Bette hosted many a Bridge Club gathering over the years, and was a charter member of her Investment Club. In 2004, Bette and Andy moved to Austin, TX to be closer to their two sons. They settled easily into retirement living at The Heritage at Gaines Ranch where they continued to make new friends, play bridge and enjoy many a happy hour. Bette and Andy were married almost 59 years before his death in April, 2006. Bette's zest for life, her love of music and dancing, and her gracious demeanor were an inspiration to all who knew and loved her. Bette never wanted to miss a party! When she broke her arm on her 80th birthday, she refused to go home and rest, telling the doctors, "It's my 80th birthday - I'm going to celebrate!" Bette was a member of the Officers' Wives Club at The Heritage and was warmly welcomed into the membership of the Austin Woman's Club. Bette is survived by her four children: Jeff, (Pam) Anderson of Spicewood, TX; Sally Anderson of Spicewood, TX and Buck's Lake, CA; Betsy Anderson of Corona del Mar, CA and her son, Michael Scott Banovac of Phoenix, AZ; and Rick (Lyndsey Rice) Anderson and their children, Andrew Clement Anderson and Emily Elizabeth Anderson, of Austin. TX. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, TX at 11:00 a.m. There will be no prior visitation. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that donations be made in Bette's memory to the charity of one's choice. Bette loved the poem below and asked that it be read at her funeral. The Song of the RiverThe snow melts on the mountain and the water runs down to the spring,And the spring in a turbulent fountain, with a song of youth to sing,Runs down to the riotous river, and the river flows to the sea, and the water againGoes back in rain to the hills where it used to be.And I wonder if life's deep mystery isn't much like the rain and the snow Returning through all eternity to the places it used to know.For life was born on the lofty heights and flows in a laughing stream, To the river below whose onward flow ends in a peaceful dream.And so at last, when our life has passed and the river has run its course,It again goes back o'er the selfsame track to the mountain