Betty Ruth Rommel

Betty Ruth Rommel was born July 22, 1919 in Spearman, Texas. She was the third of six children of Doyle and Mae (Nichols) Sparks. Betty moved with her family at the age of two to Oklahoma and settled on a farm in the Oak Hill community, south of Hanna, Oklahoma. Betty walked nearly two miles from her family farm to attend grade school at Oak Hill. While attending Oak Hill, she won several county awards in reading and spelling. She was the McIntosh County Spelling Bee Champion for several years and participated twice in the Tulsa State Spelling Competition; placing second and fifth. After grade school, she attended Hanna High School graduating in 1946 as valedictorian. At the encouragement of her aunt, Hazel Sparks, who was a teacher, and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Dover, her high school superintendent and his wife, a teacher, Betty enrolled at Northeastern State College, (Northeastern State University) in Tahlequah. She studied and worked in the cafeteria part time, carrying nearly eighteen hours each semester. She maintained a nearly perfect 4.0 GPA except for physical education class which she did not enjoy; she would rather read and study than participate in PE as she often said she was not too physically inclined. During her second year at NSU, Betty worked half time at the Department of Public Welfare as a stenographer. She arranged her college classes for the morning hours then walked from the campus to downtown to work in the afternoons. During her junior/senior years she worked part time in the college registrar's office. She graduated with honors in 1949 receiving a Bachelor of Arts with a duel major in Business and Spanish. She then began working full time in the registrar's office, where she remained until December 1951 when she accepted employment with the Cleveland Public Schools. In 1952, Betty met the man she would spend the rest of her life with, Charles Rommel. The couple was married on December 12, 1952 at the First Baptist Church in Cleveland. During her tenure with the Cleveland Public Schools, Betty worked for superintendents, W. Rankin Young, Ernest F. Rezabek, and Warren Carmichael. Charles and Betty also had their two sons, during this time frame, Ric in 1957 and Rob in 1967. In 1971 the couple moved to Edmond, Oklahoma when Charles accepted a position there. While in Edmond, Betty worked at the superintendent's office there. The couple returned to Cleveland in 1972 and Betty began a new career as secretary for the Cleveland Area Hospital under the leadership of Lindsey Orr. She worked in the billing department and was also the Medicare Clerk. After about a years she was asked to return to Cleveland Public Schools working for Dr. William Black and later Dr. Charles Clayton. While with Cleveland Public Schools, Betty had the privilege of working with several outstanding principals including, Lyle Berryhill, Bob Dowdy and Leonard Wood to mention a few. She also established friendships with many good teachers including Irene Jordan, Earl and Martha Hobbs, Maye Stallard, Mildred Cook, George Massey, Dale Ramsey, Arvilla Grantham, Alene Sparks, Fred Vaughan, Jim Dillard, Darold Ritchie and many others. She enjoyed working and usually worked two different jobs. In the early 1950's she also worked part time at the Cleveland Auto Parts with Ned Ball, Ora Leake and Elgin Thomas. She continued to work at the CAH and CPS for the following years. Betty retired in 1996 but continued to work at Cleveland Area Hospital and as a transcriptions clerk for Dr. W. M. Liou. Betty had been an active member of the CAH Auxiliary (under the leadership of Alene Sparks) for eleven years, until for health issues caused her to cut down on her volunteer work. She was a member of the Oklahoma Education Association and Oklahoma Retired Teachers Association for many years. Betty accepted Christ as her savior while at NSU and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Tahlequah until moving to Cleveland in 1951 where she has been a member of the First Baptist Church for the past sixty-years. In her earlier years in the church, she was a Sunday School Teacher of the ten year old girls. She remained active in the church until recently when she could not attend for health reasons. Betty passed away on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Cimarron Pointe Care Center in Mannford at the age of eighty-one. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles "Sparky" Rommel on October 2, 2010; her parents, Doyle and Henri Mae Sparks; and a brother, Ewell Sparks. She is survived are her two sons and their wives, Richard L. "Ric" and Karen Rommel, Cleveland, Oklahoma and Robert L. "Rob" and Debbie Rommel of Cleveland, Oklahoma; two grandsons, Cory Lynn Rommel and Trey Alex Rommel, both of Cleveland, Oklahoma; three brothers, Bill Sparks of Whitefield, Oklahoma, Ben Sparks of Fresno, California, and Hershel Sparks of Eufala, Oklahoma; and a sister, Carol Lee of Duncan, Oklahoma.