Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rene Tankersley

Betty Rene Takersley, 42, of Buckner, Missouri, died June 9, 2004, as the result of an auto accident.

Born Betty Rene Stivers on September 2, 1961, in Santa Ana, Calif. She was the daughter of Lavern and Jody Stivers of Prescott. She married Ed Tankersley, April 13, 1984. Known to friends and family by her middle name, Rene, she spent most of her life in Arkansas.

She was an award-winning writer and feature editor for Grain Valley-based Land Line Magazine, the official magazine of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the nations largest organization of truckers. She worked at Land Line three years; she was previously employed by The Trucker, a trucking newspaper based in Little Rock, the Bella Vista, Weekly Vista and The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She held a bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, and a masters degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

Tankersley won several national honors for her writing, including Land Lines first national gold medal in the International Automotive Media Awards for her October 2002 story about trucker John Kendrix. In that contest, she bested the likes of Motor Trend Magazine and Car and Driver. She won a second gold medal from the Association of Automotive Publication Editors for he March 2003 story on trucker Daryl McCartor and his wife, Margo Freshwater.

But she was perhaps best known as a tireless advocate for American truckers. Tankersley wrote a number of investigative pieces on consumer issues, going to bat for truckers who had been victims of scams or unscrupulous businesses. She would often spend hours on the phone tracking down details or on the Internet researching an issue. In some cases, her stories led to official investigations.

She was active in the Oak Grove Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where Ed was an elder and she held numerous positions, including secretary, editor of the church bulletin, youth minister and member of the church board. She had also been a member of the board of directors of the Truck Writers of North America, and single-handedly ran a prison ministry, counseling more than 100 inmates in various facilities across the country and helping them with Bible studies through the mail.

She is survived by her husband, Ed of the home; her parents, Jody and Lavern Stivers of Prescott; a son, Christopher Lee Tankersley of Gulfport, Miss.; a daughter, Melissa Shelley, and son-in-law, John Shelley of Farmington; two grandchildren, Alexis and Austin Shelley of Farmington; a brother, Richard Stivers, and sister-in-law, Becky Stivers, and their four children of Murfreesboro; another brother, Eldon Stivers, and a nephew, of Nash, Texas; and a sister, Darla Stivers of Camden.

Services were held at Royer Funeral Home in Grain Valley. Visitation was 2 p.m. Sunday, June 13. Memorial services were 3 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. The family suggests flowers or memorials to her grandchildrens education fund, in care of the family. For information, call Royer Funeral Home at 816-847-4441.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 19, at 2 p.m. at Harvest Time Assembly of God Church in Murfreesboro. She was cremated and will be buried in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Prescott.