Betty Deer Shannon

Betty Deer Shannon, 78, of Albuquerque, left this world peacefully on Monday, May 4, 2015. Betty was born in Wetumka, Oklahoma, on August 8, 1936, the youngest child of Alfred Fixico Deer and Munna Hill Deer. A full-blood Creek Indian and enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, Betty attended Butner School in Wewoka, Oklahoma, and Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma, as well as Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, graduating in 1955. She then attended Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, graduating with an associate of arts degree in 1957. In 1991, Betty retired after a 35-year career with the federal government as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Albuquerque. She was renowned for her professionalism, having never lost a case before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Betty was member of Daughters of the Nile, St. Paul’s Methodist Church, the Red Hat Club, and the alumni associations of Bacone College and Haskell Indian Nations University, which honored her in 1997 with its annual Outstanding Alumni Award. An enthusiastic sports fan, Betty enjoyed watching basketball and football games, especially when rooting for her favorite teams, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma Thunder. She served for many years as executive secretary of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. Betty was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Franklin D. “Doug” Shannon, Past Potentate for Ballut Abyad Shrine Temple in Albuquerque; and her siblings Lewis Deer, Alfred Deer Jr, Ethan Deer, Frederick Deer, and Ida Deer Larney. She is survived by a daughter, Teresa Gayle Brown and husband Martin Brewster of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; a son, Monte Deer Carden and husband John LaVelle of Albuquerque; a sister, Juanita Deer Yahola of Hollywood, Florida; a granddaughter, Katie Denise Collett and husband Jason Collett of Noble, Oklahoma; a grandson, Aaron Parker Brown of Washington, Oklahoma; a great-grandchild, Jonathan Parker Collett; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and extended family members. Betty will be truly and deeply missed by all who knew her. Family and friends are invited for visitation on Thursday, May 7, 2015, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at FRENCH - Lomas, 10500 Lomas Blvd NE, Albuquerque. Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 8, 2015 at 2:00 p.m., at the Ballut Abyad Shrine Center, 6600 Zuni Blvd, SE, Albuquerque. Interment will be at Santa Fe National Cemetery on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.