Betty Bob (Diltz) Buckley, a Fort Worth pioneer in women’s journalism, as well as the mother of Tony Award-winning actress Betty Lynn Buckley and television director Norman Buckley, died June 27. She was 99.
Buckley was in hospice care for several days after a fall in her Fort Worth home led to a decline in health, her son Norman wrote on Facebook.
Buckley was known for her editorial work in The Fort Worth Press from 1952 to 1969. She later served as public relations director for Casa Mañana through the late 1970s and early 1980s before becoming one of the theater’s honorary board members.
She co-founded Celebrity Breakfast, an annual scholarship fundraiser from 1958 to 1995 that awarded funds to young women beginning their careers in journalism.
“My mother, she was the eternal optimist,” Betty Lynn Buckley told the Report. “She had gone through a lot of stuff in her youth, but she had found this philosophy of reaching for her own joy and staying positive.”
Big love for writing and the arts
Betty Bob Buckley was born Nov. 1, 1925, in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, but her family moved to Big Spring shortly after her birth.
It was in the small West Texas town that her love for singing, dancing and writing began. At 18, she launched her journalism career at the Big Spring Herald with her first front page story on D-Day, interviewing residents about their response to the invasion.
She met her husband, Ernest Lynn Buckley, in 1944 while he was stationed at the air base in Big Spring before going overseas during World War II. They married in 1946 and a year later had their first child, Betty Lynn Buckley.
After the war, her husband finished his civil engineering education and was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. The couple had twin sons, Patrick and Michael, in 1950 and spent a few years living in Morocco.
They returned to the U.S. in 1954 and were briefly stationed in Limestone, Maine, where their fourth child Norman was born. They moved back to Fort Worth and settled in the city’s west side.
When Buckley launched Celebrity Breakfast, famous guests — including Barbara Walters and Lady Bird Johnson — were invited to be interviewed by Buckley’s best friend, NBC television personality Bobbie Wygant.
In 1983, Buckley and her husband moved to Brookings, South Dakota, so he could become dean of engineering at South Dakota State University. Ernest died in 1989.
After being widowed, Betty Bob moved back to Fort Worth in 1990. Over the next several decades, she served on several boards including the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and Friends of the Libraries at the University of Texas at Arlington. She was a member of Ridglea Methodist Church and then Arborlawn United Methodist Church.
Eugene Gwozdz, a musical director who has led several productions at Casa Mañana, spent several decades attending shows, parties and intimate dinners with Buckley. She was always sweet and supportive of the arts, he said.
Linda Blackwell Simmons, a Fort Worth freelance writer, met Buckley over 15 years ago at UTA’s Friends of the Libraries. They regularly met up for lunch, Simmons said, chatting about the past and plans for the future. She always remained a positive light, she added.
“Betty Bob was somebody who just kind of danced through life,” Simmons said. “She got slower with her dance moves over the years, but she always listened to the music.”
‘Inspired by her sense of possibility’
Buckley’s children grew up to be accomplished professionals. Betty Lynn Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of “Cats.” She later received nominations for two Daytime Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards for her television work and albums.
“If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have the career I have had,” Betty Lynn Buckley said. “Because of her, I studied dance, started performing and became professional at Casa Mañana the summer I turned 15. She was the push to do what I loved.”
The twins both earned master’s degrees in engineering. Norman, who moved back to Fort Worth in 2022, has directed episodes of the television series “Pretty Little Liars,” “Sweet Magnolias” and “The Fosters.”
Norman said his mother served as one of the biggest cheerleaders and inspirations in his career.
“I was always really inspired by her sense of possibility and her optimism, she was probably the most optimistic person I’ve ever met,” he said. “She was just always of the mind that she could accomplish whatever was necessary. She inspired me to pursue my dreams, and really encouraged me to think big in terms of what those dreams might be.”
A memorial service is planned for her centennial birthday, Nov. 1. Her family also plans to establish a scholarship fund in her name, with details to come.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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