Betty Koons

Betty S. Koons, 88, Mifflinburg

Betty Shively Koons, 88, of Mifflinburg and a resident of Nazareth Memory Center since Nov. 3, 2011, died Thursday, May 10, 2012, at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, as a result of complications after suffering a fall.

She was born Dec. 14, 1923, in Mifflinburg, the elder daughter of the late Clark A. and Mildred (Zimmerman) Shively. Betty graduated from Mifflinburg High School in 1941. She married A. William Koons in 1946 after his return from serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII. While raising their three children, Betty worked as a secretary for a time in the religion department at Bucknell University.

After the family relocated to New Cumberland in 1963, and then Camp Hill, Betty worked as an executive secretary in both the private and public sectors in Harrisburg including the Department of Labor & Industry, Pennsylvania Electric Association and the Stabler Company. When she retired from state government in 1986, she had advanced to the position of executive secretary to Secretary of General Services Walter Baran, a cabinet-level official in Gov. Dick Thornburgh's administration. Betty was regarded as an excellent administrative assistant throughout her career and stayed in touch with former co-workers for many years. During election seasons, she occasionally volunteered at the Republican State Committee in Harrisburg.

Upon her retirement from state government, she moved back to her hometown of Mifflinburg. Over the next several years, Betty worked part time in Lewisburg as office secretary at Beaver Memorial United Methodist Church, Bucknell's Bertrand Library and Best Western Country Cupboard Inn.

She was an active member of Mifflinburg United Methodist Church and enjoyed volunteering for many community organizations including Evangelical Community Hospital, the Susquehanna Valley Visitors Bureau, Mifflinburg Buggy Museum and Herr Memorial Library. She was also a member of the Union County Historical Society, Eastern Star, the Merrill Linn Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation and Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz. Betty attended many concerts over the years, and saw American jazz icons such as Oscar Peterson, Billy Taylor and Count Basie, to name a few. She played the piano and enjoyed dancing in earlier years.

Until recent years, Betty was an avid book reader and enjoyed reading several daily newspapers, especially the Harrisburg Patriot and Philadelphia Inquirer. She loved to drive, and enjoyed the freedom to go where she wished, whether to "buzz" down to Harrisburg or Washington, D.C., or to the Jersey shore for summer vacation. She loved to travel abroad as well and in earlier years took several trips to Europe. In 1990, she and a family member traveled to her family's ancestral town of Oberdorf, Switzerland, where Christian Shively lived before coming to America with his family in 1736 on the "Princess Augusta."

Of Betty's many interests, nothing meant more to her than spending time with her family. Sunday dinners, picnics, shopping trips and being an extra babysitter for grandchildren and great-grandchildren were among her favorite activities. She also enjoyed attending their sporting events and staying in touch with loved ones who lived out of town. It is believed that she attended every annual Shively Family Reunion since the tradition began in 1950. She also enjoyed flower gardening, and took delight in her pet cats over the years, most recently Purrcy. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed springing a surprise recipe occasionally on willing family "guinea pigs."

Betty will be greatly missed by her family and friends. Surviving are her son, William A. Koons, and his wife, Susan; daughters Mary Ann Williard and Betsy Robertson, all of Mifflinburg; 5 grandchildren Christine Diodato and husband Tony of Enola, Sara Reopelle and husband Josh of Hampton, Va., Andy Koons and wife Tanya, of Newport News, Va., Andrea Valentine and husband Ivan of Mifflinburg, and Jeremy Williard and Sarah Welton and her daughter, Nokomis, of Camp Hill; 3 step-grandchildren, Amanda, Genevieve and Lane Weaver; 10 great-grandchildren Miranda and Nathan Diodato, Gabriel and Destiny Reopelle, Abigail Koons, and Ivan, Jr., Alexis, Bryanna, Mashayla and Isaiah Valentine; brother-in-law Jack Wagner; and nephews Matthew Wagner, John and wife Angela Wagner, Alan and wife Karen Wagner, and Eric and wife Patricia Wagner, and their children.

She was preceded in death by one sister, Judith Ann Wagner, in February.

Family and friends are welcome from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, at the Roupp Funeral Home, Inc., 8594 Old Turnpike Rd., Mifflinburg, and from 2 to 3 p.m., Thursday, at the Mifflinburg United Methodist Church, 279 Market St., where the funeral will be conducted at 3 p.m., with Rev. Ronald Warfle, officiating.

Burial will be in the Mifflinburg Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Mifflinburg United Methodist Church, 279 Market St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844, Herr Memorial Library, 500 Market St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844 or Mifflinburg Buggy Museum, 539 Green Street, Mifflinburg, PA 17844.

Funeral arrangements are by Roupp Funeral Home, Inc., 8594 Old Turnpike Rd., Mifflinburg.

Visitation Details

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Roupp Funeral Home, Inc.

Thursday, May 17th, 2012, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, Mifflinburg United Methodist Church

Service Details

Thursday, May 17th, 2012, 3:00pm, Mifflinburg United Methodist Church

Interment Details

Mifflinburg Cemetery

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