Obituaries

Graveside services for Bessie Lance will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, at Acton Cemetery in Acton, Texas a 1:00 PM. Her nephew, Craig Reid of First Baptist Church in McKinney will officiate. She passed away and went to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, July 6, 2020 at Texoma Healthcare Center in Sherman.

Bessie Louise Turner Lance was born on December 18, 1922, in Mineral Wells, Texas to parents, Marvin and Spray Garner Turner. The family moved to Sherman, Texas in 1930, where Betsy, as she was called, graduated from Sherman High School in 1940, and then attended Mary Hardin Baylor College in Belton, Texas for one year before her marriage to Floyd Darrell Lance on November 23, 1941, in Sherman, Texas. Their lives were blessed with a son, Richard Turner Lance and a daughter Anita Louise Lance.

Betsy was always involved in the activities of her children, serving as a Girl Scout Leader for years. Volunteering has always been an important aspect of Betsy’s life, demonstrated through the years by serving in her church wherever they lived as a children’s Sunday School teacher, being involved with mission projects, and helping start two new mission churches. Outside of the church activities, she led a Bible study for ladies on the Navajo Reservation for many years.

After her children were grown, she returned to college to complete her education by receiving her BS degree from the East Texas State University at Commerce in 1976 and a Master of Arts degree from Webster College in 1981.

After her husband’s death in 1994, she moved to Sherman where she joined First Baptist Church and became active in a ladies’ Sunday School class. She continued her calling of volunteering by serving in the Crisis Center’s Thrift Shop, helping to host nursing home parties, and calling Bingo for the residents until her health no longer allowed her that privilege.

She was preceded in death by her son, Richard, in 1993 and her husband, Darrell, in 1994. Betsy is survived by her daughter, Anita Louise Lance of Albuquerque, New Mexico, daughter-in-law Cheryl Lance Jenkins, granddaughter, Sara and husband Phil Hernandez, two great-grandsons, Nathan and Isaac Hernandez, her sister and brother-in-law Gail and Robert Reid of Sherman, and nephew, Craig Reid of McKinney.

The Ministry of Encouragement of First Baptist Church Sherman has been a vital part of her life as she was involved in its ministries and in later years as a recipient of its encouragement. Memorials may be made to this ministry or to the Grayson County Home Hospice.

Dannel Funeral Home in Sherman has charge of arrangements.