Elizabeth “Betty” 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, 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.