Betty Jane (Moller) Risley, age 94, passed away on December 19, 2024, at Pine Villa in Prairie du Sac. Betty was born October 4, 1930, in Merrill, Wisconsin. She married the love of her life, Robert James Risley, on February 14, 1951.

Betty loved listening to music; Classical, musicals, and traditional old tunes. She taught her granddaughters, Emma, and Kari, to play the piano.

Betty loved art and going to museums. She would take bus trips with friends to places like the Art Institute of Chicago. She was always amazed by the gifts that artists gave to the world.

She enjoyed traveling. She brought her family to New York for her nephew Jon Barden's wedding. She visited Fallingwater, the house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, located in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania, with her good friend Vera Bauman. She also traveled to China.

Betty loved the beauty of the seasons, from the budding trees in Spring, to the bare branches in Winter forming their artistic patterns against the sky.   She loved flowers.  She would always arrange a vase of flowers, picked from her beautiful gardens around the yard, to put in the guest bedroom for visiting family and friends.

Betty was the ultimate host. Her cooking, decorating, and setting the scene for fun times with friends and family was legendary.

Betty was nicknamed the "Queen of Whimsey" because of her whimsical, crazy, funny statues, clothes, paintings, etc. that she collected over the years.  Humor was an important part of her life. Her husband and her two sons provided much of that humor.

Betty worked at various places throughout her life including at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters and Science, Land's End, and Modern Woodmen in Prairie du Sac. She was also a real estate broker.

Betty is preceded in death by her husband Robert James, Sr., and her son Robert James., Jr. She is also preceded in death by her parents, her in-laws, and her sister-in-law Jean Barden.

She is survived by her children: Terri (John) Dzialo, Eric Risley, her daughter in-law Kathi Risley, along with two granddaughters, Emma Risley and Kari (Tom) Fox, and brother-in-law David Barden. She also survived by many nieces and nephews.

A burial will take place at Forest Hills Cemetery in Madison at January 7 at 1:00 pm.

The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at Pine Villa and Agrace Hospice for providing the supportive care Betty needed.

Betty will always be remembered for the generous love and help she gave her family, and for her abundant laughter and joy.