Obituary of Betty Eileen Lewis
Betty Eileen (Duff) Lewis, age 73, of Garnett, Kansas, passed away on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, at her home.
Betty, the youngest of five daughters born to Leland and Hazel (Humphrey) Duff, was born on July 3, 1942 at home on the family farm near Lyndon, Kansas. She graduated from Lyndon High School in 1960 and Emporia State Teacher's College in 1964 with a BSE in art education. After graduation, she was hired as Garnett High School's first art teacher, where she taught for 2 years.
She was united in marriage to Tom Lewis on June 4, 1966, at the Presbyterian Church in Garnett, Kansas. This union was blessed with two daughters, Connie and Janet.
Betty was raised and baptized in the Presbyterian Church in Lyndon and later actively attended First Baptist Church in Garnett, where she enjoyed singing in and directing the choir. She had also served as church secretary.
During her childhood, Betty was active in 4-H and played the clarinet in the school band. She was a Camp Fire Girls leader at a camp in Arkansas City during college and later in Garnett, when her girls were involved.
She was a member of several clubs over the years, including the Glenloch EHU, AAUW and most recently Chapter Y PEO. As an AAUW member, she was a founder of the annual Square Fair and designed the original logo. Betty had also served on the Garnett Pride Committee, City Planning Commission, Friends of the Library and the Walker Art Committee.
After her girls were grown, she worked for Garnett Publishing as a press operator, then later as a graphic designer and wrote the newspaper cooking column, "Mixin' It Up". She later worked for the Anderson County Advocate, United Country Realty and the Law Office of Terry Solander.
Betty had many hobbies over the years, including gardening, painting, sewing, cooking, and silkscreen printing. For many years, she created her family's annual Christmas cards. She designed her home that her husband built for her in 1971 and later her current home that he built in 2009, which was on the FOL Holiday Homes Tour in 2014. She embraced computers and technology with enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity and enjoyed keeping in touch with friends and family via email and Facebook.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Leland and Hazel Duff; three sisters, Mildred Blackwood, Lela Ray, and Velma Bauck.
She is survived by her husband, Tom Lewis, of the home; daughters, Connie Fagg and husband Scott of Garnett; Janet Lewis and Ken Lollar of Pittsburg, Kansas; two granddaughters, Ashley Mitko and husband Peter of Lee's Summit MO, and Alisha Fagg of Pittsburg; sister, Barbara Tornquist and husband Elmer of Hot Springs, Arkansas; brother-in-law, Glenn Bauck of Vassar, Kansas.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 22, 2016, at the First Baptist Church in Garnett, Kansas. Burial will follow in the Garnett Cemetery. Family will greet friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday evening at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Home Chapel in Garnett. Memorial contributions may be made to the Betty Lewis Memorial Fund for a Chapter Y PEO Scholarship or to W.I.N.G.S. and left in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be sent to www.feuerbornfuneral.com