Lettie Lee Pedersen, 85, of St. Marys, died on Sunday, November 30 unexpectedly at her home due to natural causes.

Lettie Lee (Hamblet) Pedersen was born on November 22, 1940 in New Jersey. After graduating from nursing school in Florida, she worked as a registered nurse there. During this time, some friends of hers, and some friends of a Navy sailor, Alfred Pedersen, set them up on a blind date. Though both Alfred and Lettie were reluctant at the idea, they agreed. Not long after, they discussed marriage, but Alfred thought he should finish his nuclear engineering schooling first. Lettie, not wanting to have a long courtship, waiting for him to finish school, made Alfred realize he needed to act now for fear of losing this lovely young lady. So he knelt down and proposed right then. They were married in 1962 and were blessed with four children, Peri, Lisa, Christopher and Inger.

Lettie gave up her nursing career to stay home and raise her family. They traveled the world together and lived in 13 states as well as Spain.

Lettie loved playing tennis and cooking. She was an incredibly talented artist painting with oils, watercolors and doing charcoal drawings. Lettie loved spending time with her family and hosting gatherings with family and friends.

After the children were grown, Lettie renewed her nursing license to work at Caring Pregnancy Center in Colorado. She also worked with disabled children in their homes and was active in pro life groups.

Lettie loved her Catholic faith and wanted to be closer to daily Mass and the sacraments. In 2001, after Alfred retired, he and Lettie moved to St. Mary’s Kansas to be near the SSPX church there and family. Lettie volunteered her time with different parish events. She often expressed how blessed and grateful they were to be here.

Lettie was always kind and generous. She gave her family and anyone around her a beautiful and edifying example to follow throughout her life. She was a wonderfully loving wife, mother and grandmother and she will be greatly missed.

Lettie is preceded in death by her husband Alfred and her son Christopher.

She is survived by her daughters, Peri Denke, Lisa Murphy (James), Inger Awerkamp (Bobby), her sister Leslee Dozier (Bill), 28 grandchildren, and 37 great grandchildren.

A visitation will be held from 2:00-4:00 PM on Thursday, December 4 at Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple St. in St. Marys with a rosary following at The Immaculata, 701 N. 2nd St, St. Marys at 5:20 PM. A Requiem Mass will be offered for Lettie at 11:00 AM, Friday, December 5, also at The Immaculata, followed by burial in Our Lady of Peace Cemetery.

Memorial contributions in Lettie's memory may be made to The Immaculata Church by clicking on the link HERE.