The visiting vocalists at Heritage Oaks Assisted Living in Conroe begin singing Let Me Call You Sweetheart, and Betty Jones, a resident since 2011, softly sings along. She moves her arms to the beat of the music and segues smoothly into the group’s next selection, Catch a Falling Star. She knows all the words. At 89, Betty is lively and cheerful. She has every reason to be. “I was blessed to have a good life,” she says.
Betty lived in Natchitoches, Louisiana nearly all her life. There she went to school, worked as a bookkeeper and a teller at People’s Bank, met and married her husband, Walter “Dub” Jones, and raised four children. During the 1980s and 1990s, she worked for the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce and the Natchitoches Parish Tourism Commission for a combined 17 years.
“Everyone loved Miss Betty,” says Marilyn Mullikin, who worked with Betty at the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce. “Everybody always remembers her fondly. She is a wonderful lady and truly loved by everyone.”
During her tenure with the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Commission, Betty was able to participate in the filming of the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias. It was one of the highlights of her life. “It was really a time of memories for me,” she says.
How did you end up working for the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce and the Natchitoches Parish Tourism Commission?
Some of our readers may not know the movie Steel Magnolias was written by Robert Harling, who lived in Natchitoches, and was based on the lives of real people who lived there. Did you know the Harling family?
I was good friends with the Harlings. The daughter who died, Susan, was a Harling. It was really very emotional. She was a wonderful young lady. I didn’t know her that well. I was close friends with her mother, especially. It was tough. I went to the funeral. Her brother Robert Harling came to me and asked if I would mind going to New York with him to view the opening of the stage play. Then they came to me when they made the film. That is how I got involved with it. We were friends and lived in the same neighborhood. Robert Harling invited me to be in the movie.
Tell us about your experiences with the movie cast and crew.
I was with them day and night. They asked questions, and I would take them and show them around. I got to pretty much know them all. With my position, I was privileged to be with them a lot. It was nice. I was with Dolly Parton a lot. We were good friends. She is a great person. We just talked about everything—whatever was happening in the movie. We ate together and partied together. She was something else again, I will tell you. I was with her all the time, so I asked her for an autographed picture for my secretary’s mother, who was recovering from surgery. She said she would be thrilled to death to do it.
When the movie was released, did you like it?
It was well done. I felt like the whole thing was good casting. Most of them really fit.
Do you have a favorite memory of the filming of the movie?
One of the things I love to remember is about my husband, Dub, who couldn’t have cared less. He was out in the yard working in the flowerbeds and talked to Tom Skerritt for a while. I asked him, “Honey, did you enjoy talking to Tom Skerritt? What did you talk about?” He said, “Who in the hell is Tom Skerritt?” I said, “Honey, you had a celebrity here.” He wasn’t impressed one bit. He couldn’t have cared less until Dolly Parton came along!
Tell us about Dub.
We were both from the same town, so I knew him. We were married. He died after our 50th anniversary. He waited. He died the morning after our 50th anniversary. I told him, “It’s all right, honey. We have been married 50 years. It’s OK.” I cried bushels. After I retired, I traveled all over the country. After I lost my husband, I did it by myself. That’s all that saved me. I just enjoy traveling.
What is your favorite travel destination?
For a lot of people, Natchitoches brings the Christmas Festival of Lights to mind. Did you have anything to do with that?
I didn’t start it, but I inherited it. I was in charge of the Festival of Lights. It was my baby. It’s one of the largest festivals in the nation. It was a gradual thing, but when it took off, it took off like a rocket. You can’t even get near Natchitoches when the festival is on, because of the traffic. I understand there have been a lot of changes since I left. I would love to go back. Natchitoches is really a neat little town.
How did you end up in Conroe?
Some of my kids lived here; I came here after I lost my husband.
Tell us about your family.
You’ve had a happy life, haven’t you?
I saw a lot of water go under the bridge, and it was good water!