Betty Bob Buckley Obituary

Betty Bob Buckley

November 1, 1925 - June 27, 2025

Fort Worth, Texas - Fort Worth icon and media figure, Betty Bob Buckley, passed away peacefully on June 27, 2025, at the age of 99.

Buckley was a pioneering journalist and co-founder of the annual scholarship fundraiser, The Celebrity Breakfast, and she served as director of public relations for Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth's Cultural District for many years. She was also the mother of actress, Betty Buckley, twin sons, Patrick and Michael Buckley, both civil engineers, and Norman Buckley, a television director.

She was born Betty Bob Diltz on November 1, 1925, to Clinton Sawyer Diltz and Mary Powell Barnes in Tonkawa, Oklahoma; however, her family moved to Big Spring, Texas, shortly after her birth. The family's bakery failed during the Depression, and her father died when she was 13 in 1938. Her siblings then supported Betty Bob and her mother; her sister, Mary Ruth, was a dancer at the original Casa Manana in Fort Worth and also taught dancing in Big Spring, and her brother, Joe, sent money home from overseas during World War II. Her brother subsequently died in the war.

Like her sister, Betty Bob loved to sing and dance throughout her adolescence and performed locally throughout her high school and college years. But her real love was writing. She began her journalism career at 16 on The Big Spring Herald and had her first front-page story, on D-Day, when she was 18, in which she interviewed local citizens about their response to the invasion. She subsequently worked on newspapers in every city in which she lived - including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, TX), the Brookings Register (Brookings, SD), the Manhattan Mercury Chronicle (Manhattan, Kansas), the Fort Worth Press (Fort Worth, TX), the Moroccan Courier (Casablanca, Morocco), and the Limestone Limelite (Limestone, Maine).

Betty Bob met Ernest Lynn Buckley, her future husband, in 1944, when he was stationed at the air base in Big Spring while awaiting deployment for WW II. They married in 1946, and had their first child, Betty Lynn Buckley, the following year. After the war, her husband finished his civil engineering education, and the Air Force stationed him at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. They bought their first house in River Oaks. During this period, Betty Bob edited The Flying Hens, a magazine for the wives of Air Force personnel of the Eighth Air Force, covering six bases around the country. At the same time, she wrote a column for the Fort Worth Press called Carswell Conversations. The couple had twin sons, Patrick and Michael, in 1950. (Both sons would follow their father into civil engineering.) From 1952 to 1954, the young family lived in Sidi Slimane, Morocco, where Betty Bob wrote a weekly column and special features for The Moroccan Courier, the only American newspaper on the continent of Africa.

They returned to the States in 1954, and lived briefly at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine, where their fourth child, television director Norman Buckley, was born in 1955. Shortly after Norman's birth, her husband retired from the Air Force. They moved back to Texas and settled on the West side of Fort Worth.

In 1958, Betty Bob had the idea for the Celebrity Breakfast to raise money for journalism scholarships; it became a Fort Worth tradition every year until 1995. Famous guests-including Barbara Walters, Ladybird Johnson, and "Dear Abby"-were invited each year to be interviewed by Betty Bob's close friend, NBC television personality Bobbie Wygant. Betty Bob and Bobbie remained lifelong friends and were frequently referred to in their later years as "The Party Girls." They attended almost every theater opening night and many other arts events together well into their 90s, holding court during opening night receptions and staying later than most guests half their ages.

During the 1970's and early 1980's, Betty Bob worked as the head of public relations for the Casa Manana Theatre. She also returned to the University of Texas at Arlington to complete her unfinished college degree (she had previously left school when she became pregnant with her first child) and graduated with her journalism degree in 1983, though she had already been working as a professional journalist for 40 years.

In late 1983, Betty Bob and Ernest moved to Brookings, South Dakota, where her husband became Dean of Engineering at South Dakota State University (and then later economic advisor to Governor George Mickelson.) While there, she created an organization for the Engineers' Wives. When Ernest passed away in 1989, Betty Bob published a book of her husband's poetry called "Write Me a Poem, Ernie" to raise money for engineering scholarships at SDSU. The endowment has grown and continues to provide scholarships each year.

After being widowed, Betty Bob moved back to Fort Worth in 1990, and into the home where she would live for the rest of her life. She was active in many civic organizations, serving on the boards of Casa Manana, The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, and Friends of the Library at the University of Texas at Arlington, among others. She cared for both her mother and her sister at her home in the final years of their lives.

She loved her children and was proud of their accomplishments: her daughter, Betty Lynn, became a Tony Award-winning actress (in the musical "Cats") and has starred in numerous films and television shows. Her twin sons, Patrick and Michael, had successful careers in the engineering profession. Her son, Norman, is a prolific television director. Her children were devoted to her in return; she was a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to them. Betty Bob remained close to all of them and talked to each of them almost daily. Michael passed away in 2020.

She was a woman of deep faith and a member of Ridglea United Methodist Church, later transferring to Arborlawn United Methodist Church. She loved traveling, reading, and all manner of the arts. She was an animal lover (she always had dogs and cats) and especially doted on her rescue dog, Taz, in her final years. She never lost her mental acuity and continued to read the newspaper every morning, cover to cover, until the last weeks of her life. She was optimistic, curious, and kind. Her life was one of immense joy despite the inevitable losses of loved ones and occasional setbacks. She accepted life as it came and remained remarkably resilient. She woke up every day with gratitude and always told her family, "It's all right. I love you, and we continue."

Betty Bob is preceded in death by Ernest Lynn Buckley, her husband of 43 years; her parents, Clinton and Mary Diltz; her sister, Mary Ruth Blankenship; her brother, Joseph Diltz; her son, Michael Jay Buckley; her son-in-law, Davyd Whaley; as well as many of her long-time friends and colleagues.

Survivors include her daughter, Betty Lynn Buckley; her son, Patrick Joe Buckley; her daughter-in-law, Dianne Buckley; her daughter-in-law, Marjory Buckley; her son, Norman Lee Buckley; her granddaughter, Erin Buckley, and spouse, Heather Greeley and their daughter, Reece Clementine; her granddaughter, Laura Frost; her grandson, Jared Hunt; her great-granddaughter, Amber McDonald; and other great-great-grandchildren. She was beautifully cared for in her final years by a team of ladies-Esther Duty, Doris Wheaton, Robin Powell (all of whom had also helped care for Betty Bob's mother and sister), and Carolyn Teal.

A memorial service will take place on her centennial birthday, November 1, and her family plans to establish a scholarship fund in her name, with further details to follow.