Belle Drye Schafer-Petkas

Belle Drye Schafer Petkas, loving wife, caring mother and grandmother, avid volunteer, and friend to so many, died on September 12, 2023.  Belle was born in New York City on January 23, 1946 to Robert and Virginia Lawler Drye, both native Texans. Shortly after her birth, her parents moved to Houston, intent on giving their daughter a Texas upbringing. Though born in New York, she was a Texan through and through, a descendant of Collin McKinney, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. During her childhood, she treasured summers and weekends at her family's vacation home in Wimberley, TX.  She was a graduate of Lamar High School in Houston, TX where she was involved in dance and musical theater, under the guidance of Ruth Denny. She later earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University in 1968 and has been blessed with longtime friendships from her Kappa Kappa Gamma pledge class. Following graduation, Belle was the first female trainee in the bank management program at Texas Commerce Bank, and over the past 23 years, she served as the Chief Financial Officer for HoldTight Solutions Inc.

As Belle’s dad always said, “you can never have too many friends,” and she definitely fulfilled his sage advice. Belle was a leader and an active volunteer who developed many meaningful friendships through her work with the KKG alumni association, Boy Scouts, her children’s sports teams, the PTA, Susan G. Koman Foundation, American Heart Association, Voice of Hope Ministries, La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas in Dallas, and the Greek Festival in Houston. Over the past 22 years, she has served on the Board of Directors and numerous committees at the Briar Club in Houston, her second home, where she exercised, swam, and danced Zumba much better than any of the family members who occasionally accompanied her.

Belle is survived by her husband, Peter Petkas of Houston, TX; her daughter Amy and husband Steve Wheeler of Dallas, TX; her son Michael Schafer and wife Erin Schafer of Coppell, TX; her four grandchildren Macy and Lindsay Wheeler of Fayetteville, AR and Avery and Keira Schafer of Coppell, TX; and her brother John Drye of Houston, TX.  She was preceded in death by her parents and her first husband Mark J. Schafer.

A celebration of Belle’s life will be held in Houston on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at eleven o’clock in the morning at Christ the King Presbyterian Church, 1201 Silber Rd., Houston, TX 77055 and in Dallas on Friday, September 22, 2023 at half past ten o’clock in the morning at Northway Christian Church, 7202 W Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75225.  A reception will follow the Houston service at half past twelve o’clock at the Briar Club, 2603 Timmons Lane, Houston, Texas 77027.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Attn. Gift Processor, 515 Post Oak Rd., Suite 1000, Houston, TX 77027, Memo: Briar Club Scholarship Fund, In memory of: Belle Petkas or Voice of Hope Ministries, 4120 Gentry, Dallas, TX 75212, In memory of: Belle Schafer Petkas.