Lucille J. Otis (1918-2021)

OTIS, WILSON, TERHUNE

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 9/19/2021 at 08:29:26

LUCILLE JEAN (TERHUNE) OTIS

Cedar Rapids

10/5/1918 - 9/13/2021

When Lucille was born at the height of the 1918 flu pandemic, the doctor told her parents, Lewis and Oma (Wilson) Terhune of Woodburn, Iowa, that she probably would not survive. She survived 102 years, until the next pandemic took her. Between those points she graduated at 16, a talented artist she received a teaching degree at the height of the Depression, taught in a one-room school until her marriage to Harold B. Otis in 1938 which terminated her contract, worked for Burlington Instrument Co. during WWII while her husband was in the Navy, and retired from Sears as a division manager in 1982 to care for her husband until his death in 1988. She was a quietly competent woman with a subtle sense of humor and much loved.

Lucille was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Harold; and her sister, Helen Stickler. She is survived by one sister-in-law, Marjorie Foss; her daughter, Cynthia Otis Charlton; son, Brian K. Otis (Diane); four grandchildren, Sam (Deb), Jon (Ami), Dan (Dynasti) Otis and Tom Charlton (Karen Eldridge); 10 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and many nieces and nephews.

No service is planned.

The family would like to thank her caregivers at Cottage Grove Place for their kindness and care. Donations may be made to any animal rescue organization of donors' choice.