Betty A. Thorn

December 1, 1929

June 23, 2016

Funeral services for Dr. Betty A. Thorn, 86, of Round Rock, formerly of Salado, will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at First Baptist Church in Belton. Rev. Andy Davis officiated.

Burial follows in North Belton Cemetery.

Dr. Thorn passed away on Thursday, June 23, 2016, at a care facility in Round Rock.

She was born in Nacogdoches on December 1, 1929, to the late Joe and Leola (Stivers) Aiken. Betty graduated high school in Nacogdoches, attended East Texas Baptist College and graduated from Stephen F. Austin. She earned a Doctorate in Music from University of Oklahoma. Betty married James B. Thorn, Jr. on January 30, 1948, in Nacogdoches. She was a professor of music at Montgomery County Community College in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and a professor of Music Education and Voice at University of Mary Hardin Baylor until her retirement. Betty was also the director of the Salado Community Choir for many years and a literacy volunteer at Salado Public Library. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Belton.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James B. Thorn, Jr., in 2000 and a son, Jackson Rhodes Thorn, in 2013.

Survivors include a son, James B. Thorn III of West Virginia and a daughter, Jeannine Holt of Colorado. She also is survived by brothers, Joe Mack Aiken and Marvin Aiken. Loves of her life included three grandchildren: Amy, Sarah, and Patrick and their spouses, and five great-grandchildren, Evan, Hailey, Cohen, Brielle and Harper.

The family received visitors at 9 a.m. preceding the service at the church. Services have been entrusted to Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Belton.