Betty Cattrell

Cattrell, Betty Jane, 92 retired Haysville City Librarian, passed away May 24, 2019. She was born in Wichita on the 27th of February, 1927. As a child, her family moved about the country while her dad sought employment to provide for his family of six. They finally settled back in Wichita where Betty graduated from East High School. In 1945 she married Melvin Lee Cattrell. She and Melvin had four children, Kary, Keith, Kelly and Karla. In 1954 the family moved to Haysville. Betty worked for a short period at Boeing but her love for the Haysville community led her to seek employment in the Haysville schools where she served as a librarian at the Nelson Elementary School and the Haysville Junior High School. But a City Library was always Betty’s vision/passion and in June of 1977 Betty became the Director (and only staff member) of the newly formed Haysville Community Library in the former Hemphill School building where the new library rented space for $10 a year. In 1978, the library became a part of the Kansas Library System. Under Betty’s leadership the library continued to grow and Betty’s influence spread throughout the State. The library staff grew, the library moved into new buildings twice and Betty remained the Director for 37 years, retiring at the still young age of 87! In addition to her work at the library Betty was involved in a host of other organizations. She was a member of the Flores del Sol chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Haysville Pride, First Baptist Church in Haysville and, of course, any library organization that was possible to join. Betty’s love of books and learning never waned. She was still taking college classes at 92 years of age! Betty touched the lives of so many people in so many ways. She was always for the underdog and willing to help anyone in need regardless of whether they were family or her newest friend or neighbor. She was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Lee Cattrell and sons, Kary and Keith Cattrell. She is survived by daughters, Kelly (Larry) Sampson and Karla (Jimmie) Fleetwood; 7 Grandchildren, Korby Cattrell, Stessie (Cattrell) Scheiber, Zachary Fleetwood, Lindsay Buckert, Jeremy Fleetwood, Jennifer Ruppert and Joshua Sampson; 17 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.