Betty Thomas was moving until the end.

Even at 80 years old, the longtime matriarch of Thomas Rib Shack, a staple of Tuscaloosa’s west side, spent her days visiting the restaurant, checking in with customers, visiting her children and making the restaurant’s signature homemade barbecue sauce that is sold in stores across the county.

On Dec. 21, the day before she passed away from natural causes at her home, Thomas and her family were dancing and celebrating Christmas early at the restaurant, a place known for its barbecue and soul food. Thomas was the first to get everyone up on their feet to dance.

"Everyone was having a good time," said Sharon, Thomas’ daughter. "We were all eating and laughing."

Thomas and her husband, Charles, started Thomas Rib Shack in 1971 near their home on Willow Lane. Initially started as a grocery store, the business eventually began selling barbecue and the tradition continued when they moved to their current 15th Street location. For a time, they also ran a second location on Hargrove Road.

If Charles was the heart of the restaurant, Betty was its face.

"You would always see her in the restaurant, talking with customers," said Shon, Thomas’ granddaughter. "At 80, she would be in the back taking care of guests."

"Everyone knew who she was," said Thomas' son, Michael.

In 1948, Thomas and her family moved from their Sumter County home in Epes to Tuscaloosa, where her father worked on the railroad and her mother was a homemaker.

Betty and Charles got married in 1966. In the early days, Charles earned a living at Central Foundry while Betty worked at a clothing factory. However, it was Charles who always had dreams of making his own way.

"My dad was a visionary," Sharon said. "He had a little land in his backyard, so he thought ‘Why not make a store?’ because there was no store around there."

The way Thomas’ family tells it, both Charles and Betty leaned on one another to make the restaurant successful. In later years, the couple also owned a trucking company and ran cabs across town. If one spouse was busy with one business, the other would take care of the restaurant.

"They supported each other," Michael said. "The whole thing probably wouldn’t have started unless they were on the same page."

Michael, who helps run the restaurant with Sharon and other family members, said that despite the long hours of running a business, Betty still had enough energy to take care of her four children when he was growing up.

"She was always the one that everyone could go to and everyone would bring it back where it needed to be," he said.

No matter how busy she could get, Betty made it a point to talk to her children every day, as well as visit and keep up with her 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. However, she refused to take any help from anyone, even after Charles passed away in 2014.

"She was really independent and never had any desire to have anyone come stay with her," Michael said. "She never really needed for anything."

Thomas’ children said their mother lived the life she wanted and was happy with how she and her husband had built something special over the years.

"She really enjoyed life," Shon said. "She was free."

If one part of Betty lives on, it's the Thomas Rib Shack homemade sauce, which Sharon said she and Charles tirelessly worked on until they "got it right." Its recipe remains a family secret, but Sharon did share one important ingredient.

"She made it with love," she said.

Visitation will be from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday at Van Hoose & Steele Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Bailey Tabernacle CME Church with the body lying in state one hour prior. Burial will subsequently occur at Cedar Oak Memorial Park.

Reach Drew Taylor at drew.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.