Obituary

Vernon Richard Hazeltine, 97, died Tuesday (Aug. 12, 2014) at the Newton Medical Center.

He was born on July 14, 1917, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the son of Frank Roger and Della Mae Haury Hazeltine. The family lived on a farm near Wetmore; when Vernon was a teenager, they moved to Newton where he graduated from Newton High School.  After graduating, Vernon worked for a music store in Newton for several years, until enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II. After being discharged he moved to Wichita and worked for a short time at Cessna Aircraft. Vernon later went to work for the Innes Department Store in Wichita, which would later become Macy's, where he was a service manager in the appliance department. After leaving Macy's he operated Hazeltine Service doing service repair work for many years as the Frigidare representative in this area.

He married Betty L. Dooley on May 30, 1953, at the First Baptist Church in Wichita. After having lived in Wichita for many years, they moved in the early 1980s to the eastern part of Kansas, where they lived in Ft. Scott and Stark until moving to Newton in the late 1980s.  The Hazeltines enjoyed traveling to Canada, California, and many trips to Colorado. While living in Wichita, they were members of the Metropolitan Baptist Church, where he was a deacon and in Newton, the Meridian Baptist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Betty L. of the home; children, Richard Hazeltine and wife, Luanne of Newton, Karen Carlson and husband, David of Savonberg, and Diana Hemken and husband, Ed of Derby; brother, Robert Hazeltine and wife, Thelma of Overland Park; six grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.  Vernon was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Deborah; and brother, Charles.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday (Aug. 18, 2014) at the Meridian Baptist Church in Newton. Graveside and interment will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Veteran's Cemetery in Winfield.  Friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday, from 1 until 5 p.m., where the family will receive friends between 2 and 4 p.m.  Arrangements are by Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, Newton.