Betty Ruth (Luttrell) Grimes climbed out of her bed at her home on the farm one last time and walked into her new mansion in Heaven. Her long struggle with illness ended on Friday, August 24, 2018. Her going home celebration will be Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 2:00 pm in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with Pat Cantwell and Patrick Conlan officiating. Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery.
Betty was born on June 25, 1938 to Flora Etta (Lovorn) Luttrell and Kenneth Robert Luttrell in Clovis, New Mexico. She was married to Bobby Gene Grimes on April 25, 1955 and brought three children into this world.
Just as sure as the sun rises every morning, Bobby and Betty Grimes were meant to be, the two would become one with the other, synonymous, and valued by family and friends. Those two just seemed to agree, and sometimes disagree! Betty and Bobby were married 53 years before Bobby went to ride his horse on the heavenly range. Mom and Granny were the names Betty cherished most in life. If you needed someone to put your baby to sleep or calm a little one, she was the one for the job, and of course, if you needed to exact discipline on a young child, she could also assist in that area as well. She was an extraordinary cook and always had at least a four course meal prepared for Bobby and the family. Her motto was: “Take it or leave it.” Her greatest desire in life was for her family and friends to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Some may not have heard those words come from her lips, but in her home, dozens and dozens of notebooks were discovered where she recorded her most intimate thoughts and scriptures from God’s Holy Word.
Her years as a teacher’s aide were some of the best years of her life. She loved reading and creating bulletin boards. There were over 600 hundred books in her home, most of which were spiritual.
Betty is survived by her three daughters; Treva Grimes Little, Evonne (Rick) Ferguson, Melody (Orlando Jr.) Ortega, all of Portales. She has 10 grandchildren, Amy Miller, Chris (Lacey) Miller, Andrea (Patrick) Conlan, Justin Rodich, Holly (Garrett) Knight. Shelaine Rodich, Bobby Jack Rodich, Ethan Ortega, Kayley and Chantel Ferguson. She also has 20 great grandchildren, two sisters, Martha (Ron) Singleton, Brenda Egan, and step sister Barbara Chesser.
Betty is preceded in death by her husband, Bobby, father and mother, Kenneth R. and Flora Etta Luttrell and step mother, Winnie Luttrell. Four sisters, Marie Taylor, Johnnie Faye Danforth, Kenna Jean Luttrell, and Janet Duarte as well as two step brothers, Phillip Russell and Butch Russell.
Pallbearers will be: Orlando Jr. and Ethan Ortega, Rick Ferguson, Bobby Jack Rodich, Patrick Conlan, and Garrett Knight. All friends and family are invited to be honorary pallbearers.
The family would like to say a special thanks to her nephew Brian Danforth who acted as her guardian angel during her final days, and her granddaughters, Amy and Holly who stayed by her bedside with enduring love and compassion, among other family and friends. A huge thank you to Fheb Chee Garcia, and the rest of the Roosevelt General Hospital Therapy team who became her dear friends, and she looked forward to seeing several times each week. Dr. Ordonez in Lubbock, Texas, her Hospice nurses, Rainie and Stacey and the Hospice Pastor, Brad Mahan. Arrangements are under the direction of Wheeler Mortuary of Portales, 575-356-4455.
