A photo of all the cousins (grandchildren) together for the first time in years to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman, our grandma, ViLettie Luella.

This piece was written by my sister, Penny Bruce, for the Hutchinson, KS, Times. I wanted to share this with my friends. I will forever miss this generous, loving woman who modeled grace, elegance, and a fierce love of the divine over and over again throughout the years we were together. She passed quickly, with little suffering, and was cracking jokes up until the end. Sweet dreams grandma...

Lettie Luella Newman
91 Years Old

Lettie Newman was born on a wheat farm in Nickerson, KS, on February 10, 1915, and passed away on November 25, 2006, in Santa Clara, CA. Lettie was a loving, generous and spirited wife, mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She will be greatly missed by all those who were touched by her kindness, warmth and wonderful sense of humor. While born and raised in Kansas, Lettie spent more than 60 years in theCalifornia Bay Area. She was married for 24 years to Leroy Turner and is survived by Ross Turner of Wellington, NV, and Janet Bruce Skelton of San Jose, CA, along with their spouses, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In 1968, Lettie married Richard Newman, who she considered to be the love of her life. Lettie and Dick shared 11 years together filled with love, joy, laughter and adventure.

An advocate for children's education, Lettie taught school for 35 years-- first in a one-room schoolhouse in Kansas and later in California Bay Area public schools. She received her undergraduate degree from San Francisco State College and was among the first women to receive a graduate degree from the California State University at Hayward. She was a lifetime member of the California Teachers' Association.

Lettie dearly loved her family and friends, was devoted to God and her church and was proud to be one of the Oakland A's greatest fans. Lettie's memory will remain vivid in ourhearts and thoughts.

My dad Stan asked me to add this:

In one of Lettie's journals, she wrote about having been delivered by a veterinarian who was hard of hearing. When asked the baby's name, he was told Lettie. Lettie's parents were named Reed, and on the birth certificate, the vet wrote "Little Reed." Lettie didn't discover that until she was an adult. I think she was applying for a passport.