Betty Mae Ziegler

Betty Mae (Korber) Ziegler, age 98, who lived most of her life in rural Wichita, passed away August 31, 2025 in Houston, Texas. Betty was born November 26, 1926 in Wichita to William and Edith (Smith) Korber and had a sister, Wilma Freidline who passed away in 2007. She attended Wichita Schools and graduated from North High School in 1945. Betty lived the majority of her life in Sedgwick County Kansas and over 60 years in Lincoln Township on a “Century” Farm that her Grandfather Korber purchased before 1900. Betty took an active part on the farm helping her father during World War II and later when her husband Gene took over the farm.

Betty was united in marriage to Lawrence “Gene” Ziegler on August 8, 1948 at the First Presbyterian Church Chapel in Wichita. Gene worked as an electrician and became a farmer when William, Betty’s father, retired. Gene and Betty built their home on the farm that has been in Betty’s family since 1896. They had 2 children, Dale and Diane. The family was very active in the Furley 4-H Club; Betty was Community Leader for over 15 years, Gene was the electric leader and Dale and Diane each enjoyed being members for 10 years and showing many projects at County and State Fairs. Other family fun included spending hours in the backyard swimming pool, boating and waterskiing at Marion Lake, where Gene’s parents had a home. Two trips a year were made to Chama, New Mexico, where Betty and Gene helped Betty’s sister’s family build a cabin where the family would trout fish in the summer and snowmobile in the winter on Cumbres Pass.

When Gene was 52 he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The next 3 years were spent traveling to 48 states in their motorhome, until Gene's death at age 55 in 1983.

Betty was active in the establishment of Rural Water District #1 in northeast Sedgwick County and was their first bookkeeper. She was a member of Furley EHU, Furley United Methodist Church, then Kechi United Methodist Church. When a landfill was proposed in her section (34) of Lincoln Township by the City of Wichita, she spent 10 years resisting their efforts. Previously Betty had helped to rally the community to fight and eventually close down a hazardous waste dump that was just 2 miles away.

Travel was a big part of Betty’s life. No matter how busy they were with their jobs and the farm, they took a family vacation every year. Betty and Gene took their first cruise on the SS Norway, when Diane was on the Cruise Staff. Betty took 8 more cruises after that. She made 4 trips to Europe and visited 12 countries. She also visited New Zealand, Tahiti, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands in South America. Betty enjoyed going to Alaska each of the 12 summers that Diane lived up there and even one winter trip to celebrate her 75th birthday. She took great pride in showing everyone her world map that was covered in “dots” showing everywhere that she had visited.

In January of 2018, Betty moved to The Regent Assisted Living facility in Wichita, a few miles from the farm. She enjoyed living there for about a year until she had a mild stroke and had to move to a memory care facility at that time. The facility selected was in Houston, Texas near Dale’s home. For the next 6 ½ years she was in 4 different facilities in Houston until she passed away on August 31, in her room at the Cypress Assisted Living facility in Houston. During her time in Houston, she was able to spend time and enjoy her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Surviving family include son Dale and his wife, Sharon Ziegler of Houston, Texas and daughter Diane and her husband Dennis Swinney of Hutchinson, Kansas. Betty had 6 grandchildren, 13

great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Wilma, husband Gene and many friends.

Visitation will be Friday, September 12, 2025 at Hillside Funeral Home West, 2929 West 13th Street North, Wichita, KS 67203 from 5-8 pm. Funeral Service will be Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 10 am at Kechi United Methodist Church, 4533 E. 61st St. N., Kechi, KS 67067. Burial will be at Kechi Cemetery, located at 6523 N. Hillside Ave., Park City, Kansas 67219, immediately following the funeral service. Memorials may be made to Kechi United Methodist Church, online at https://www.kechiumc.org/giving-new, or by mailing a check to the address above; or Redemption Animal Rescue, Hutchinson, online at https://redemptionanimalrescueks.com/donate/ or by mailing a check in her memory to 801 N. Main Street, South Hutchinson, KS  67505.