Betty Corbit Casselman Bradford passed away Nov. 11, 2020, at her home in Tempe, AZ. A Celebration of Life will be held for Betty on 11 a.m. Friday, October 7, 2022 at the First United Methodist Church in Hiawatha, Kansas.

Betty was born in Dixon, Nebraska on March 3, 1929 to Rev. Elmer Corbit and Ruth Watson Corbit. After graduation from High School in Chester, Nebraska she attended Nebraska Wesleyan University where she studied music education, piano and organ. At Wesleyan she met Richard “Dick” Casselman, a student with a beautiful baritone voice. They were married in 1951 and then lived in Norfolk, NE, and Cozad, NE, where Dick was a funeral director and Betty taught and directed church choirs. They also lived in Winnebago, NE, and Imperial, NE, and Belleville, KS, as Dick grew his career as a funeral director and Betty taught and continued her church music activities. In 1964 Dick purchased the Meek Mortuary in Hiawatha, KS.

In addition to conducting several vocal choirs and organizing an English handbell choir at the First United Methodist Church in Hiawatha, Betty participated in several service organizations and became the first woman to serve on the Hiawatha Community Hospital board. She was a Charter Member of PEO Chapter HU in Hiawatha. She organized and presented Grief and Loss classes for church, civic and service groups.

After Dick’s death in 1994, Betty relocated to Arizona where she later was introduced to another talented baritone, Paul C. Bradford. They married in 1996 and, after taking their children and grandchildren along on their honeymoon, Betty and Paul shared 19 years of singing in choirs in Mesa and Tempe. They enjoyed traveling together to see family and friends. Paul died in 2015

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Richard (Dick) Casselman; her second husband, Paul Bradford; her daughter, Jayne Casselman Mohr; her siblings, Elmer Wayne (Betty) Corbit and Ruth (Virgil) Canning; and her step-siblings: Dale Eickman, Don Eickman, Warren Eickman, Milton Eickman, Ruth Irene Eickman, Neal Eickman and Margie TeKolste.

She was survived by her son, Richard “Dierck” Casselman (Scott Van Hove) of Miami Beach, FL. Dierck died in February of 2022. Surviving Betty is her daughter, Claire Casselman (Lisa Hesse) of Ann Arbor, MI; grandson Jonas Fister of Mayer, AZ; granddaughter Rebecca Mohr of Munster, Germany; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A special message or note of remembrance may be sent to www.chapeloaksfuneralhome.com