AQHA HOF Member, Betty Nix, Has Passed

A member of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and AQHA honorary vice president, Betty Nixdied December 19, 2021.

Betty Nix worked for the American Quarter Horse Association for 40 years, retiring on June 30, 1992.

Throughout her employment, Betty became a highly respected figurehead – a person people knew or knew of, and a “mother” to the membership and staff. Her motherly ways and “Mother Nix” nickname stemmed from her caring attitude and concern for people’s feelings.

For four decades Betty’s job was just that – taking care of customer demands, requests, complaints and problems.

“I made my name out there by handling a lot of calls from irate customers. It was a challenge to help those people, but I knew how they felt about some things. I always tried to make them understand our policies. A lot of it was communication and giving them that personal touch. When I helped someone and solved the problem, it made me happy.”

Making sure that AQHA employees continued to give customers the service they deserve was the advice Betty left behind.

“If you treat people right, the Association will go a long way,” she said.

Betty’s usefulness to AQHA did not end with that assignment. Out of necessity, she cross trained and became proficient at the jobs of other employees so she could pick up the slack when someone was absent. In this manner, she was beginning to lay the groundwork for the important role she would play in the Association’s future. Her willingness to handle any job would eventually make her an ideal person to supervise other employees.

Although some jobs were better than others, Betty said she always tried to make the best out of every situation.

“That is what I’ve tried to tell myself, and I tried to instill that in the girls who worked for me. One of my bosses at Garlock told me that if you have a job that you don’t like, try to make a game out of it and you’ll end up enjoying it. I never forgot that.”

As Betty’s job responsibilities grew, so did her position at the Association. In time, the soft-spoken woman found herself as secretary to former Executive Secretary Howard Linger for a short while. She was then promoted to Administrative Assistant and cultivated a reputation as a trouble-shooter for problem files.

She retired after four decades but remained in the hearts of many of her friends and coworkers. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Services are pending and will be updated here when finalized.