Bettie Talbert, 'friend' of Southeast, dies at 85

A recipient of the highest honor the Southeast Missouri University Foundation bestows, Bettie Talbert of Cape Girardeau, a teacher, businesswoman, philanthropist and passionate landscape gardener, died Sunday.

She was 85.

Bettie, along with her husband, Dr. C.R. “Tim” Talbert Jr., received the prestigious Friends of the University Award in 2018.

According to semo.edu, the university’s website, the Friends award is given to individuals who “have the respect of the community and the university and who must have acted to confirm their interest and involvement with (Southeast).”

Bettie Talbert

“Bettie was such a gracious lady,” said Trudy Lee, Southeast’s vice president for advancement and the foundation’s executive director.

“Bettie and Tim were big supporters of Greek life at Southeast and the River Campus program,” she added.

The Talberts were members of the university’s President’s Council and were annual donors to the school’s symphony orchestra, with Bettie serving on the symphony board.

At Southeast, Bettie, Tim and family established the Dr. Clifford Talbert, Jr. Endowed Medical Scholarship for premedical students.

The former Bettie McHaney was reared in Kennett, Missouri, where she met her future husband in high school.

She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1956 and was one of the original members of the majorette and twirling squad known as Golden Girls.

After serving as a home economics teacher at Ladue High School in suburban St. Louis, Bettie and Tim moved to Cape Girardeau in 1965, where Bettie started a majorette training program at Cape Girardeau Central High.

In 1968, the Cape Jaycees named her the Outstanding Young Woman of the Year.

Mrs. Talbert was credited with founding Delta Nu chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority at Southeast and was on the sorority’s executive committee and served as rush adviser for more than 25 years.

“(Bettie) was a sweetheart,” Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox said.

“She didn’t want notoriety and didn’t go looking for it,” he added.

In 1984, Bettie and Tim developed the former Plaza Galleria, 2001 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau, an indoor ice rink and retail mall built on the site of the former Kroger’s Grocery.

The venue was home to a competitive skating team that won many first-place trophies.

“My husband said Cape Girardeau would love a skating rink,” Bettie told the Southeast Missourian in 1994, adding “we have people (who) come from as far as 100 miles away to take weekly lessons.

“Perhaps the most thrilling thing has been watching students who started very young growing into positions of responsibility here (in Cape Girardeau),” Talbert said.

While at Plaza Galleria, Mrs. Talbert started Fantasticks, a collectibles, home accent and holiday store.

When the Galleria closed in 2004, Talbert moved the store to West Park Mall.

In concert with her husband’s career as a cardiologist, Bettie organized a group from the local Medical Auxiliary to become instructors in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

With support from the American Heart Association, more than 1,000 people were CPR-trained initially, along with Cape Girardeau police officers, firefighters and physical education instructors.

A longtime member of Centenary United Methodist Church, Bettie was known for her devotion to gardening, with more than 50 species of plants growing at her Cape Girardeau home.

Bettie is survived her husband of 64 years, by her three sons and five grandchildren.