Elizabeth Hamilton Beth Geron

Memorial services for Mary Elizabeth (“Beth”) Geron, 90, will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, November 22, 2013, at First Baptist Church of Brownfield with Dr. Carl Moman officiating. Burial will be in Terry County Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Brownfield Funeral Home.

Visitation for family and friends will be Thursday, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Brownfield Funeral Home.

Beth passed away Sunday, November 17, 2013 in Brownfield. She was born in Brownfield, Texas, June 15, 1923, to C. F. “Choc” and Clemmie Adams Hamilton. She graduated from Brownfield High School in 1940 and attended Texas Tech University, majoring in Elementary Education.

Beth was raised on the family farm homesteaded in 1902, by her paternal grandparents, J. T. and Laura Hamilton. The original homestead has been continuously owned for more than 110 years by direct descendants of J. T. and Laura. Beth was instrumental in development and fund-raising for Hamilton Park, which honors the history and legacy of Terry County and is part of the fourth-grade curriculum, educating students about their community.

Beth knew at an early age that she was born to teach, even asking her dad if she could start a school for his farm workers’ children. She was an elementary school teacher in the Union and Brownfield schools for 24 years and was a member of the Texas State Teachers Association and the Terry County Retired Teachers Association.

Beth was on the Board of Directors of the Terry County Heritage Museum and on the Terry County Historical Survey Commission. She was a member of First Baptist Church, teaching Sunday school and serving on various committees, including five pastor search committees.

Beth married Alva J. (“Jake”) Geron, the love of her life, May 26, 1944. They had been married 63 years when he died in 2008. She is survived by a daughter, Lynda Beth Geron, and son-in-law, Joseph Shumate, as well as by beloved nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren.