Bettye Louise Branan
Feb. 3, 1925-June 27, 2024
Pleasanton, California

Bettye’s life spanned much of the 20th century, and she was an active participant in many of the sweeping changes which occurred during those years. She lived through the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, WWII, and the huge westward migration triggered by those events. She was both a Rosie the Riveter on planes and a Wanda the Welder on Victory ships. In 2004, Bettye served as Grand Marshall for Pleasanton’s Veterans Day Parade, which honored “Home Front” workers like Rosie the Riveter.

She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on February 3rd, 1925, to William and Sada Cupp of Poteau, OK. She had an older sister, Inez, and four years later, a younger brother, Sonny.

With the beginning of WWII, Oklahoma and the rest of the Midwest were inundated with a federal job recruitment campaign on the radio, in newspapers and in public meetings, urging people to move to California and other states, to work in the war industries.

Shortly after graduating from high school in 1943, Bettye, her mother, and Bettye’s best friend, Doris Bratton, left Poteau for California on a bus provided by the war industries. Bettye said that the bus was completely full, with every seat taken and the aisle filled with people sitting on their luggage.

Bettye and Doris left the bus in Long Beach to stay with Doris’ mother. They were both hired by Douglas Aircraft, where Bettye was trained as a riveter and began working on the gun turrets of B-17s. She liked the work but when she heard from her mother that she was earning twice as much as Bettye working as a welder in the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, she moved north. She and her mother worked the same shift in the plate welding shop for the rest of the war, as Kaiser turned out hundreds of Victory ships. In 1944, she met a young sailor from Georgia, Tom Branan. He was serving on an ammunition ship, the Las Vegas Victory, which Bettye had worked on. They married in late 1945 and a year later, Tom was hired by the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District.

In 1955, Tom was made Supervisor of the eastern half of the Abatement District, and the family moved to Pleasanton. Bettye and her family bought a house on Jensen Street, in what was then called Pioneer Village, where they stayed until her death. At that time, she was the last original owner on the street.

Pleasanton in 1955 was a tiny place, and through the efforts of people like Wanda Ferguson, Shirley Casterson, Dorothy Hardin and Pat Allison, Bettye soon felt at home. Also, shortly after arriving in Pleasanton, Bettye and Tom discovered square dancing, and spent many nights dancing at Walter Johnson’s barn at the Golden Eagle Ranch. They also joined the Mariners, a Presbyterian social group for young couples, and between that group and square dancing, they met many of the people they would remain friends with for the next 60 years. Finally, they came to know most of the kids in town through serving up endless sloppy joes to any kid who showed up on Wednesday nights at the Presbyterian social hall, and through helping with Boy Scouts, Little League and DeMolay. They always made kids feel welcome because they really were welcome.

Bettye was predeceased by her parents, by her husband, Tom, and by her sister, Inez, She is survived by her brother, Sonny, by her son, Tom Jr. and his wife Carol and by her son, Randall Cloud and his daughter, Jessica. Randall’s two former wives, Jillian and Debbie, and his daughter, Christina, all predeceased Bettye.

Bettye died just like she wanted to - at home, with family, amid visits and phone calls from neighbors, friends and many of her “surrogate” children.

A memorial gathering will be held on August 25th, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM on the patio of the Gay 90s Pizza Parlor, Main Street, Pleasanton.

Donations in memory of Bettye should be given to Hope Hospice, whose staff daily work wonders for the dying and their families. Hope Hospice, 6801 Koll Center Parkway #140, Pleasanton, CA 94566.