Elizabeth W. Klein

Elizabeth Werley Klein passed away this morning at The Highlands of Wyomissing. She was 88 years old. Betty was the mother of 8 surviving children Robert E. (Jeanne) O'Hayer, Jr. of Bethel, PA; Thomas Francis O'Hayer of Wakefield, RI; Ann Elizabeth (Frank) Runyeon of Newberry Park, CA; Matthew (Catherine) O'Hayer of Austin; TX, Martha (Buzzy) O'Hayer of Petaluma, CA; John (Sandy) O'Hayer of Ridgefield, WA; William Walter (Marisa) O'Hayer of South Bend, IN; and Daniel Charles (Betsy) O'Hayer of Putnam, CT. In addition, Betty was the proud grandmother of 15. Also surviving is her brother, Dr. John Werley, Easton.

Betty spent nearly her entire childhood on 13th Street in Reading living in her family's home, attending grammar school, high school (Reading High) and college (Albright) all on her same street. She enlisted in the Navy during World War II eventually teaching instrument flying to Navy pilots in Corpus Christi, TX and Pearl Harbor, HI.

After WWII Betty used her GI Bill to earn her private pilot's license at Reading airport. She flew for fun for several years and was the first female member of the Reading Aero Club. Betty married Robert E. O'Hayer, Sr. in 1949, moved to Rhode Island, and did her part in creating the post WWII Baby Boom. In 1969 Betty moved her family back to the Reading area, residing in Shillington and Wyomissing. However, she returned to Rhode Island often throughout her life spending many summers on Block Island. Betty returned to Albright College in 1985 graduating in 1988 with a B.A. degree in Home Economics, a course her 8 grown children thought she should be teaching. For many years she worked as a real estate agent in the Berks County Market.

In 1996 Betty married Philip Conrad Klein. They spent several happy years together before his death in 2000. They lived together at the Highlands in Wyomissing and Betty kept this as her home for nearly 15 years. Betty was best known for her incredible sense of humor, her love of life, her care for the sick and dying and love of her family. During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, she made gallons of her famous vegetable soup each week for the residence of the Reading AIDS hospice. For many years she was a board member of St Joseph's Hospital Womens' Auxiliary where her father Dr. Walter Werley had been head of Radiology. She loved to play golf and was an avid bridge player.

The O'Hayer family would like to thank the staff of the Highlands for the tremendous care offered their mom during the past 15 years.

Services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in Atonement Lutheran Church, 5 Wyomissing Blvd., Wyomissing. Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., West Reading is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be recorded at www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.