Elizabeth Hazlett

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Hazlett passed away on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at her home in Lawrence, Kansas. She celebrated her 102nd birthday a little over one month prior to her death with friends and family, remaining lucid until the very end.

Betty was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on April 26, 1921, the daughter of Edwin F. and Marie (Robinson) Abels. Ed and Marie were owners and editors of a weekly newspaper in Lawrence, The Outlook, for forty-five years. Betty pitched in at the newspaper in her teen years and while in college by selling advertising to local merchants.

Betty attended the University of Kansas, receiving undergraduate and master's degrees in English and Journalism. She loved the university and the education she received there. She was an ardent KU sports fan and treasured the latest NCAA championship. She was alive for all six National Basketball Championships, the first coming in 1922!

Betty began working as a classroom teacher in 1945 in Denver, Colorado. She taught at Bear Creek High School for two years until her return to the state of Kansas. After working for her parents, utilizing her degree in Journalism, she became the Editor of the Kansas Government Journal, the Kansas League of Municipalities magazine. In 1959, Betty accepted a teaching position at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, where she taught English, Journalism and was the Yearbook Sponsor. In 1970, Betty and her husband, Emerson, moved to Manhattan, where she became the English and Journalism teacher at Manhattan High School. She retired in 1980. She was proud and honored to have taught in the public school system. Many of Betty's students kept in touch with her, and many contacted her recently on her 102nd birthday.

As well as being instrumental in the lives of her two sons, she was the past-President of the Women's Kansas Day Club, a founding President of the John Haupt Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a member of the University Women's Club, a member of the P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Kansas State Chapter, an organization dedicated to the

advancement of women.

Betty was first married to Allan R. Ewing, on May 26, 1942, who was killed at the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War on Christmas Eve in 1944.

Betty and Emerson Hazlett were married in Lawrence on October 7, 1949, and shortly thereafter they moved to Topeka. Emerson survives at home. He was with her every step of the way, lying next to her when she passed away. They loved Colorado, and until recently, the two spent their summers in Estes Park, where they were active in the Summer Resident's Association for over 30 years.

Other survivors include her two sons, Allan A. Hazlett and Stan A. Hazlett; six grandchildren, Christopher Hazlett, Rob Hazlett, Ryan Hazlett, Jessica Wood, Jocelyn Gunter, Elizabeth Boschma; ten great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild, with another on the way.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents and daughter-in-law, Peggy Hazlett.

Presently, there is no service scheduled. Friends and relatives will be contacted to get together soon to honor and celebrate her life.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.