Betty B. Hayenga

In 1925, Betty and her family moved to a farm near Langford, S.D. Due to low enrollment in the local country school district, Betty completed Grades 1 through 3 in the neighboring town of Langford. When enrollment increased in her local district, she was able to finish Grades 4 through 8 close to home. She was the only student in her class.

Eventually, Betty’s parents moved into the Langford school district, and she completed Grades 9 through 12 in Langford. After graduating high school, Betty attended Eastern State College in Madison, S.D. The next fall, she started her teaching career at a country school close to Sisseton, S.D. After three years she moved to Pierpont, S.D., teaching 7th and 8th grades. Finally, she taught 5th grade for two years in Watertown, S.D.

On July 29, 1951, she married William (Bill) Keith Hayenga in Langford S.D. They moved from Langford to Chamberlin, S.D. where Bill worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. They relocated to Wichita, KS. In 1953 where Bill was employed by the Boeing Aircraft Company.

In Wichita, Betty worked as a clerk typist in the Security Department at Boeing for two years. She then left work to raise their children - Kirk born in 1955 and Kim born in 1958. Her life revolved around her children, church, and many life-long friends. Days were filled with sewing projects, cooking, entertaining, various church committees/activities as well as community volunteer jobs. She and Bill were two of the founding members of Wichita’s Reformation Lutheran Church. Betty and Bill traveled around the Unites States, drove the Al-Can Highway to Alaska, and made two trips to Europe. They particularly enjoyed trips to California to visit Kirk and his wife Nita and to Seattle to visit Kim and her family.

In 2012, Betty took the big step of moving to Seattle, Washington where she was closer to her children. She delighted in spending more time with her three granddaughters and meeting each of her great grandchildren as they were born.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband Bill (2010), her parents, her sister June and brothers John, Donnie and Darrell. She is survived and will be missed by her son Kirk and his wife Nita and daughter Kim Friedli and her husband Eric; granddaughters Dana Friedli-Neumann (Mark), Crista Friedli, and Jenna Klop (Nick); and great grandchildren Gabe Neumann, Eloise, Vivian, London and Oscar Friedli-Neumann and Kane Klop.

She will be buried beside her husband, Bill, at the Lakeview Cemetery, Wichita, KS at 10:00 a.m. on Friday October 20, 2023. Remembrances may be made to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (https://www.apdaparkinson.org).