Lettie B Thrift 1913-2003

THRIFT, POTTS, BRADLEY

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/12/2008 at 14:37:04

Sioux City Journal

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

ONAWA, Iowa -- Lettie B. Thrift, 89, of Onawa died Monday, Sept. 15, 2003, at Burgess Health Center in Onawa. She had reached the age of 89 years, 10 months and 27 days.

Services will be 1:30 p.m. Friday at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Onawa, with the Rev. John Noer officiating. Burial will be in Onawa Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and an Order of the Eastern Star service at 7 p.m. conducted by the Queen Esther Chapter 222, all at Rush Family Care Service in Onawa.

Lettie was born Oct. 19, 1913, near Strahan in Mills County, Iowa, the eldest of seven children of Will and Mabel (Potts) Bradley. She graduated from Strahan High School in 1930 and from Iowa State College in 1935.
4-H was an important part of her life. In 1930, she and her brother, Will, competed as a poultry demonstration team and became the state champions. The team went on to the nationals in St. Louis, where they placed second. This earned them the right to attend a short course at Ames, Iowa, and the national Club Congress in Chicago, Ill. In 1931, she competed in the record contest sponsored by the Poultry Tribune and won first place. This won her a scholarship to Iowa State College in Ames, which was the first time a champion of the state was an Iowa Poultry Club member. After graduating from Iowa State, she completed her dietetics internship at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Mich.

She married Bernard Thrift on Dec. 26, 1935, in Toledo, Ohio. To this union, four sons and three daughters where born.

In 1956, she accepted the position of Extension Home Economist in Monona County, Iowa. she retired in 1979. After their retirement, the couple enjoyed traveling extensively.

She was active in several professional organizations and received several honors and awards, including the U.S.D.A. Certificate of Recognition. She was the first recipient of the R.K. Bliss Extension Citation, and was the only recipient to receive this award from the hand of Director Bliss himself. She spent two years working in Woodbury County, Iowa, where she organized and launched the Expanded Nutrition Program.

She was a member of First Congregational United Church of Christ, Women's Fellowship, Onawa Business and Professional Women and the Zonta Club of Sioux City. She was a longtime member of Queen Esther Chapter 222 OES, where she was a past Matron and past Grand Representative. She served on the executive board of Iowa State University Home Economists Club, served on the board of the West Central Development Association and was the chairwoman of the Health Advisory board in Monona County, was a Sunday School superintendent and a 4-H leader.

She leaves to mourn her passing her seven children and their spouses, Robert and Claire Thrift of Masonville, Colo., Perry and Sharron Thrift of Whiting, Iowa, Thomas and Michele Thrift of San Francisco, Calif., John and Elizabeth Thrift of Bastrop, Texas, Frances and Darrell Nuzum of Owatonna, Minn., Judith and Charles Martinez of Omaha and Joyce and Charles Bentley of Onawa, Iowa, where she made her home; two sisters, Lillian Johnson and Wilma and her husband, Glenn Johnson; two sisters-in-law, Phyllis Bradley and Doris Bradley; a brother-in-law, Malvern Aust; 15 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 60 years; three brothers, Bill and his wife, Marjorie Bradley, Byron "Bud" Bradley and Tom Bradley; a sister and her husband, Lou and Maurice King; three sisters-in-law, Josephine and her husband, Dales Alexander, Mary and her husband, Marvin Hull, and Margaret Aust; and two brothers-in-law, Alfred Johnson and Lyle Thrift.