1922
Letty
2010
Letty Weingartner
August 2, 1922 — August 25, 2010
Letty Brooks Weingartner, formerly of Green Lake, passed away peacefully on August 25, 2010 in Sonora, California. She was surrounded by her family.
Letty, born on August 2, 1922, one of five children belonging to Raymond A. and Susan F. (Thrasher) Brooks of Green Lake. She was one of 17 students that were members of Green Lake High School’s graduating class of 1940. Playing the trombone in the Green Lake marching band was among the fondest of her high school memories. Her love of band and orchestra music endured her entire life. Among her first jobs, along with her sisters Mary and Jane, was taking tickets and ushering at the Thrasher Opera House, which is still located on Mill Street in Green Lake. This theater was owned by her uncle, Charlie Thrasher. Her two brothers Bill and Jack helped run projectors.
After graduating from high school, Letty attended Ripon College for one year before transferring into the nursing program at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. After earning her registered nursing certification in 1944, Letty enlisted in the United States Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant with the Army Nurse Corps. After completing her basic training at Camp McCoy in Sparta, Wisconsin, Letty was assigned to the US Army’s 61st Station Hospital, in Ardenza, just south of Livorno, Italy. Among those soldiers she provided care for were the surviving wounded of the legendary Japanese-American 442 Regimental Combat Team – which is still considered by many to be the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces, Letty considered these men to be among the finest she had ever known. She was honorably discharged from the Army as a first lieutenant in 1947.
After returning to the US, she continued her work as a nurse in a veterans’ administration hospital in Chicago. It was in Chicago that she met, and later married Clayton Weingartner, a decorated WWII veteran who was recovering from wounds sustained while serving with the army in the Pacific. The newly married couple moved to Clayton’s hometown of Butte, Montana in 1949, where they raised their three children David, Brooks and Susan. Clayton, a high school history teacher, passed away in 1968.
Letty provided a loving home for her children, saw to it that they had what they needed to succeed in life and made sure that each of them went off to college and obtained their degrees. She continued to work as a registered nurse; and as a highly regarded mentor for young nurses in the Butte hospitals up until her retirement in 1985.
Letty returned to Green Lake in 1992, to be closer with her siblings and their families. Seven years later, she moved out to Soulsbyville, California and into a house that was built for her by her three children on a lot located next to the home of her daughter Susan and her family. She remained in her home for 11 years up until the time of her passing this past August. As she had done for her own children years ago, Letty made sure her house was a welcoming and loving “second home” for each of her 11 grandchildren that either lived next door to her or those from out of town that were able to visit from time to time.
While her physical health slowly declined in her later years, Letty’s mind remained as clear and as crisp as it ever had been. She had a love of table games involving skill and strategy, and derived great joy from trouncing any of her family that was foolhardy enough to take her on. Among Letty’s favorite activities in her later years was to go out onto her deck in the early morning just after sunrise to water her plants, watch the dozens of birds that came to the feeders she maintained around the perimeter of deck, read her paper, and work the daily crossword and Sudoku puzzles. There were few that she did not complete. Letty was never able, try as she might, to find an ear of corn, a cumber, or tomatoes that measured up to those grown in Wisconsin. She was an avid gardener who took great pride in the wide variety of flowers that she planted every year.
Letty is survived by her three children and their spouses Sue and Eddie Howard of Soulsbyville; Dave Weingartner and Debby Hurlburt of Anchorage, Alaska; and Brooks and Shawn Weingartner of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She is also survived by her grandchildren and their spouses Sarah Howard and Lindsay Edge of San Jose, California; Kristen and Thad Fennig of Costa Mesa, California; Kelly Howard of Seattle, Washington; Daniel, Ricky and Matthew Howard, all of Soulsbyville; Molly and Clayton Weingartner of Anchorage and Sierra Weingartner and Payton and Callan McGriff, all of Idaho Falls, brother Jack Brooks and her sister Mary Kinas. Letty was preceded in death by her husband, Clayton; one brother, Wilben “Bill” Brooks; and one sister, Jane Hazeltine.
A celebration of Letty’s life will be held on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at the Green Lake Federated Church, 489 Scott Street, Green Lake, WI. Visitation with Letty’s family will begin at 10:00 a.m, with the celebration of life service beginning at 11:00 a.m. with Reverend Karen Gygax Rodriguez officiating. Interment will follow, at 12:30 p.m. with military honors, at Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake.
Letty’s family requests that Memorials may be given in her name to the non-profit “Thrasher Opera House” organization, 506 Mill Street P.O. Box 4, Green Lake, WI 54941. Online Memorials can be made at
https://www.itinteractive.com/thrasher/friends.asp
Butzin-Marchant Funeral Home, Ripon, is assisting the family.
www.butzinmarchant.com
Letty, born on August 2, 1922, one of five children belonging to Raymond A. and Susan F. (Thrasher) Brooks of Green Lake. She was one of 17 students that were members of Green Lake High School’s graduating class of 1940. Playing the trombone in the Green Lake marching band was among the fondest of her high school memories. Her love of band and orchestra music endured her entire life. Among her first jobs, along with her sisters Mary and Jane, was taking tickets and ushering at the Thrasher Opera House, which is still located on Mill Street in Green Lake. This theater was owned by her uncle, Charlie Thrasher. Her two brothers Bill and Jack helped run projectors.
After graduating from high school, Letty attended Ripon College for one year before transferring into the nursing program at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. After earning her registered nursing certification in 1944, Letty enlisted in the United States Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant with the Army Nurse Corps. After completing her basic training at Camp McCoy in Sparta, Wisconsin, Letty was assigned to the US Army’s 61st Station Hospital, in Ardenza, just south of Livorno, Italy. Among those soldiers she provided care for were the surviving wounded of the legendary Japanese-American 442 Regimental Combat Team – which is still considered by many to be the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces, Letty considered these men to be among the finest she had ever known. She was honorably discharged from the Army as a first lieutenant in 1947.
After returning to the US, she continued her work as a nurse in a veterans’ administration hospital in Chicago. It was in Chicago that she met, and later married Clayton Weingartner, a decorated WWII veteran who was recovering from wounds sustained while serving with the army in the Pacific. The newly married couple moved to Clayton’s hometown of Butte, Montana in 1949, where they raised their three children David, Brooks and Susan. Clayton, a high school history teacher, passed away in 1968.
Letty provided a loving home for her children, saw to it that they had what they needed to succeed in life and made sure that each of them went off to college and obtained their degrees. She continued to work as a registered nurse; and as a highly regarded mentor for young nurses in the Butte hospitals up until her retirement in 1985.
Letty returned to Green Lake in 1992, to be closer with her siblings and their families. Seven years later, she moved out to Soulsbyville, California and into a house that was built for her by her three children on a lot located next to the home of her daughter Susan and her family. She remained in her home for 11 years up until the time of her passing this past August. As she had done for her own children years ago, Letty made sure her house was a welcoming and loving “second home” for each of her 11 grandchildren that either lived next door to her or those from out of town that were able to visit from time to time.
While her physical health slowly declined in her later years, Letty’s mind remained as clear and as crisp as it ever had been. She had a love of table games involving skill and strategy, and derived great joy from trouncing any of her family that was foolhardy enough to take her on. Among Letty’s favorite activities in her later years was to go out onto her deck in the early morning just after sunrise to water her plants, watch the dozens of birds that came to the feeders she maintained around the perimeter of deck, read her paper, and work the daily crossword and Sudoku puzzles. There were few that she did not complete. Letty was never able, try as she might, to find an ear of corn, a cumber, or tomatoes that measured up to those grown in Wisconsin. She was an avid gardener who took great pride in the wide variety of flowers that she planted every year.
Letty is survived by her three children and their spouses Sue and Eddie Howard of Soulsbyville; Dave Weingartner and Debby Hurlburt of Anchorage, Alaska; and Brooks and Shawn Weingartner of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She is also survived by her grandchildren and their spouses Sarah Howard and Lindsay Edge of San Jose, California; Kristen and Thad Fennig of Costa Mesa, California; Kelly Howard of Seattle, Washington; Daniel, Ricky and Matthew Howard, all of Soulsbyville; Molly and Clayton Weingartner of Anchorage and Sierra Weingartner and Payton and Callan McGriff, all of Idaho Falls, brother Jack Brooks and her sister Mary Kinas. Letty was preceded in death by her husband, Clayton; one brother, Wilben “Bill” Brooks; and one sister, Jane Hazeltine.
A celebration of Letty’s life will be held on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at the Green Lake Federated Church, 489 Scott Street, Green Lake, WI. Visitation with Letty’s family will begin at 10:00 a.m, with the celebration of life service beginning at 11:00 a.m. with Reverend Karen Gygax Rodriguez officiating. Interment will follow, at 12:30 p.m. with military honors, at Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake.
Letty’s family requests that Memorials may be given in her name to the non-profit “Thrasher Opera House” organization, 506 Mill Street P.O. Box 4, Green Lake, WI 54941. Online Memorials can be made at
https://www.itinteractive.com/thrasher/friends.asp
Butzin-Marchant Funeral Home, Ripon, is assisting the family.
www.butzinmarchant.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Letty Weingartner, please visit our flower store.
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