Priceless

 

This is my sweet Betty! I love, love, love you! I am so glad God shared you with me! Betty is now 81 and still on fire for the Lord!

To everyone else, it looked like Betty Chandler had it all together.

She lived in a big house, drove a pricey car. She was “high-rolling,” as she put it, and could claim a life filled with interesting turns. As a country western songstress, The Woodlands resident traveled the world making friends with presidents, celebrities and even the King of Tonga. She sang with country music icons like Hank Williams and Hank Snow.

But inwardly, Chandler suffered.

“On the outside, I smiled and sang and had it all together, but on the inside I had scars,” she said.

Sexual abuse left her feeling marred, and her early childhood was marked with a double tragedy. At 6 years old, her father died on the job. Two days later, her sister was born and passed away within days.

Just as the situation was verging on desperate, a neighbor stepped in. The family was brought to The Salvation Army, where the nonprofit gave them food and helped pay off the rent. When Chandler’s mother recovered, she went back to the office to return the favor, but the reimbursement was refused.

“The officer said, ‘No. You can’t pay us back,” Chandler said. “We gave that to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. It’s free.”

It was the organization’s kindness that has prompted Chandler to serve on Salvation Army boards for 25 years and head up her pet philanthropy project, the Salvation Army Giving Tree, in The Woodlands Mall for 14 years now.

Different lifestyles

Chandler splits her life story like a history book’s timeline — there’s before Jesus and after him. Before him was her career as a country western and big band singer. Her mother started coaching her at 3, and at 8 years old someone convinced Chandler’s mother to take her daughter to a local radio station. The station’s representatives must have liked what they heard because Chandler was asked for more.

“So I was thrust into a professional singing career when I was 8 years old,” Chandler said.

Her travels began when she was about 15. She toured the country and sang in New York City’s Carnegie Hall. She flew overseas and sang to American troops during the Korean War.

A new chapter unfolded when she was 17 and met a clarinet, sax and flute player named Cal, who had toured with big band names like Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kitten. On their third date, Cal Chandler proposed to his now wife of 55 years.

Soon after the marriage, Betty Chandler wanted to fade from show business and have children. Cal Chandler migrated toward the life insurance business, and the couple eventually settled in Texas with their two sons, David and John.

Holiday project

At 72, Chandler is still singing and traveling to speaking engagements, but every year she takes a break around the holidays for different work—giving back to The Salvation Army by heading up the Giving Tree. The tree is filled with hundreds of cardboard angels that list a child’s or senior citizen’s name and what they would like for Christmas. Often the tags list simple requests like clothing, bed sheets or a stuffed animal.

By Christmas, Chandler probably knows The Woodlands mall’s holiday selections and specials better than many of its shops’ employees. From mid-November to late December, she wanders the shopping venue at some point almost every day from opening to closing time. She doesn’t like to hang over her volunteers, so when it’s not her shift Chandler checks out the stores and stays close by in case she’s needed.

One of Chandler’s recruits, Brenda Johnson, is a fellow Salvation Army volunteer who mans the station and comes out every year to help her longtime friend and mentor.

“She has just a heart for serving; I would call her having a servant’s heart,” Johnson said, who lives in The Woodlands Cochran’s Crossing neighborhood.

Chandler guesses she has helped match thousands of needy children and seniors with those looking to donate Christmas gifts. Past years’ successes aside, Chandler is hoping the recent economic downturn won’t affect the community’s generosity.

“Our team is really praying for that because we know that everybody is going to have a difficult time,” she said.

brooke.hatchett@chron.com