Elizabeth Jane Stockard

Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Dillon Stockard passed away peacefully after a brief illness surrounded by her family on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at the age of 94. Betty was born on July 16, 1918 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma to John Joseph & Alice Egan Dillon. She was second generation of Irish immigrants from County Kerry, and was always proud of her Irish Heritage. She owned and operated Betty Stockard School of Dance in Oklahoma City from 1968 until her retirement in June, 2009 at the young age of 90. Betty's teaching career began when she was 18 years old. She and her sister Mary Alice taught dance lessons as the Dillon Sisters in Seminole, Oklahoma. Their mother supplied the music by playing the piano during classes. After graduation from New Lima High School, Betty and Mary went to Los Angeles, California to study dance with Louis DePron, Katherine Duffy and Stanley Kahn. While there, they were offered contracts by Twentieth Century Fox to dance in motion pictures. The sisters chose to stay closer to home and share their love of dance with the people of Oklahoma. Betty married Woodrow W. Stockard in 1942, had three children, and continued to teach for various dance studios in Texas and Oklahoma, including Holliman and Howard Dance Studio in Fort Worth, Texas and Hi Roberts in Oklahoma City. In 1968, Betty opened her studio at 7706 N. May Avenue. She was mother, Counselor, Teacher, Mentor and Friend to thousands of dancers for over 41 years. She always saw the beauty and potential in each student. Her favorite quote is no surprise: "A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or what kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." Betty is preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a brother, Jack Dillon, Jr. She is survived by three children, Mary Ferguson (Terry Wood), Jane Zielny and husband Steve; Dan Stockard and wife Loree; sister, Mary Alice Perrault; four grandchildren, Kelle Wygal, Donny Goyette and wife Jill; Dillon Stockard, and Kaitlin Stockard and fiancé Brandon Harper; two great-grandchildren, Madison Jane & Gracyn Reese Goyette and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.