Betty Tillman's Obituary
BETTY LOU TILLMANJune 21, 1929 - January 27, 2011Born in Missouri's Webster County in the Hazelwood area, Betty grew up with 12 brothers and sisters. One of the middle children of Bartie E. and Ora Mae Fleetwood Easley. After the death of her mother, the family moved to California in 1946.She met and married Robert Sheffield and had a son, Robert Lee Junior. After her husband passed, she married Howard Tillman and they spent 47 years together until his passing in 2005.Betty was preceded in death by her mother and father, sisters: Beulah, Edith, Sybil, Louise & Sheron and brothers Teddy, Bill, Roy, Pete and Bobby Joe and her son, Robert Lee Sheffield Jr. She is survived by her sister, Wanda Wagner (John) of Washington, her step-daughter Sherry Bento (Robert) of Los Banos, CA., Step Daughter- Nancee (Nella) Campbell and Nancee’s Children, Deanna Tate (Philip), Ricky Campbell, Steve Campbell (Ruth) and (6) Great Grand Children and one great great granchild her grand-children: Joseph Panis and Rachelle Chavez (Steve) and their children Shayna & Elena who were a great joy to her. Also survived by many nieces and nephews including Kevin and Steven Young in California and Tina, Tamra and Tresa in Washington. Betty will be so missed by all in her very large and loving family.Till we meet againBetty loved spending hours and hours in her garden, tending to her plants, shrubs and flowers. She had a wonderful green thumb and could make anything grow. Her flowers and yard were the most beautiful in her neighborhood. Happiness to Betty was going shopping for more plants and flowers. She also kept an immaculate house and did many self-home improvements such as wallpapering, painting, moving furniture, re-decorating, often without any help.Betty loved people. She had that country charm and hospitality and everyone was made to feel welcome in her home. She always insisted that everyone must eat. You never left her house hungry.Betty had friends from the clerks at Safeway to the Waitresses at Denney's to the greeters at Wal-Mart. She would always give them a big smile and hug when she saw them and they loved her too. Betty had a passion for babies. Everywhere she went, if she spotted a baby, she would stop and talk to it and touch it. This probably came from her love for her younger brothers and sisters who she helped raise after her Mother passed. She had a special love for her Grand-Children and Great Grand-Children, and would spend countless hours taking care of them, loving them and being on the floor playing with them. Betty had a contagious laugh and wonderful sense of humor. She liked to kid with people and make them laugh, then would wink, throw her head back and laugh hysterically. She loved music and even though she was hard of hearing, she would sing and dance to the music she had inside of her. She loved to dance and when she found a partner was always ready with her "shoulder shimmy". In her last years, when it was difficult for her to walk, while holding hands with a family member, she would stop and start singing & dancing. Betty had a very giving spirit and was very generous. She would go buy groceries and then give a lot of it away to friends and family.Betty loved to watch wrestling on TV. She & Howard would spend many hours watching WWF.Betty had a REAL sweet tooth. You would never know it by her size but she loved candies, chocolates, cookies, pastries, ice cream and she would always send visitors home loaded up with sweets and other goodies. Betty loved to buy linens and her linen cabinet was overflowing. Every time she went to the store, she would buy more towels, kitchen towels, throw rugs, blankets, pillows, etc. and then give a lot always to loved ones, only to turn around and buy more. This also speaks to her generosity.
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