Betty was born on March 1, 1931, in San Angelo, Texas, to Ruby and John Barron. She has one brother and one sister. Living 23 miles southeast of San Angelo, it was quite a distance to attend high school in San Angelo, but she graduated. A few years after high school, she married Jerry Dusek, and they began their farming and ranching life not far from their roots in Vancourt, Texas, where they still reside.
From a very early age, Betty was on a horse, doing ranching duties with her parents, working with sheep and cattle. Getting away to youth rodeos was difficult, but she started her competitive drive early, after her first barrel race win presented her with a pair of red cowboy boots.
After high school, an arena was built on the family ranch, and the art of roping began on big Spanish mutton goats. Practice with calves also played into her daily activities. At a roping held at the Joe Davidson ranch in Ozona, Texas, Betty, at the age of 16, competed in the cloverleaf and straight barrels and won against top lady contestants. The prize was her pick of 11 filly colts. The one chosen turned out to be good in rodeo competition as well as ranch work.
In 1948, Betty was part of the founding members of the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA), now known as the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). Some of the other founders included Jackie Worthington, Sug Owens, Ann Young, Helen Green, Francis Wegg, Josie Willis, Mary Ellen Seller, Bebe Green, Then Mae Farr, Vivian White, Margaret Montgomery, Billie McBride, and Sally Taylor. That first year, Betty was the calf roping director and also ended the year as Champion Calf Roper. There were many All-Girl Rodeos in which she competed in the tie-down roping, ribbon roping, team roping, flags, and barrels.
A memorable time in her career came in 1953 when, while not competing much, she loaned her good horse to Wanda Bush, who competed in the barrel racing, winning the Champion Barrel Racer title. Another highlight was winning the All-Around title in 1967 and a 2-horse trailer while competing in several events on the same horse. Most girls used several horses.
Betty competed in the WPRA for over 36 years. In recent years, Betty has been involved with the West Texas Rodeo Association, which is a large group consisting of generations of families across West Texas. These rodeos were for whole family participation. For several years from 1998-2005, Betty was still winning saddles and prizes in her age group as an all-around competitor.
Betty and Jerry have four children, Randy, Patsy, Eddie, and Ruby, who were all involved with showing horses and rodeo competition. Today, many of their grandchildren are active with horses.
