| Notes |
- Leta Bahn
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Marthal Leta Lewis Bahn died peacefully Monday, March 5, 2007, at Chateau Girardeau.
Born Jan. 2, 1925, in Des Arc, Mo., Leta was the fifth of six children born into the loving family of Fred and Ethel Lewis. Her siblings include Frank, Francis, Frieda, Freeman and Bill.
Leta and her extended family had lunch together every Saturday at Wimpy's Restaurant, which was owned by her brother, Bill, until it closed in 1997.
Leta attended Roberts Elementary School near Des Arc, until moving with her family to Cape Girardeau in 1938 and living in a house at 321 North North Henderson. She graduated from Central High School with the class of 1943. She also graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1947 with a B.S. degree in home economics. While at SEMO Leta became a member of Clio and was a cheerleader for the Indians.
Leta and Emil Lawrence "Larry" Bahn were married June 18, 1949, at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau. Their first date was spent canoeing through Larry's father's store, the Bahn Brothers Hardware Store on Main Street, during the flood of 1943. Her diary read, "That Bahn boy can call again!"
After graduation, Leta was first employed by Union Electric as a home economist, touting clean electric clothes dryers, and then as a district home economist for Frigidaire. She later taught home economics at Belleville High School while Larry finished his Ph.D. at Washington University.
Pioneering the roles of women in Cape Girardeau, Leta was elected as one of the first women elders in the Presbyterian Church. She went on to be moderator of the Southeast Missouri Presbytery and then moderator of the Eliza Parish Lovejoy New Reunited Church Presbytery.
She was a delegate to the 199th Presbyterian General Assembly in Biloxi, Miss., in 1987, a position her father also held 30 years before. One of her real joys was serving for eight years on the board of Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, N.C. In 1987Southeast Missouri State University awarded her with the "Outstanding Alumna" award from the Home Economics Department.
Leta's crowning achievement was taking Chateau Girardeau from being head of the Feasibility Study to chairman of the board of the Building Committee, completing the $6 million project months ahead of schedule and more than $100,000 under budget. It shouldbe noted that she demanded that this project use local architects and contractors instead of bringing them in from out of town. She continued as an active board member after the opening of this fine residential retirement facility.
She was also instrumental in establishing the Pensel Azalea Garden at Chateau.
After Larry died, she became an active manager of the family farm, learning about growing rice while encouraging others to eat more rice. Leta also served as a member of the chamber Agriculture Committee.
A loving mother and grandmother, she delighted in her three grandchildren and in taking them on nature walks on the family farm, Taylor Oaks. She would teach them about different birds, their calls and the various flora and fauna living there. Leta took great pleasure in watching her grandchildren participate in their various recitals and sports activities.
An avid tennis player, she and Larry built a tennis court for their 25th wedding anniversary. She remained an active player into her 70s and was always a force to be reckoned with at the net.
Leta was a wonderful cook and a gracious hostess to her many friends over the years. Leta loved gardening and spent many wonderful hours planting trees, azaleas and other flowering plants at her family home located north of town.
She loved life and took several trips to visit her son, William, in different far flung stations around the world. Her trips included exploring the Alaskan frontier, watching her son play polo in Manila, experiencing Japanese life, trekking into the mountains of Thailand on foot and elephant well into her 60s, and even braving the war-torn and heavily mined country of Cambodia to see the magnificent temples Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. The last with great trepidation and lots of encouragement from her son stationed there with the U.N.
Leta is survived by two sons and their families of Cape Girardeau: Dr. Lawrence Taylor Bahn and wife Nancy Jo, and their three children, Caitlin Rebecca, Jackson Taylor and Carsen Eileen; and retired Air Force Maj. William Lewis Bahn and wife Dr. Janna Tuck. Also surviving are two brothers, Frank Lewis and wife Irene, and Freeman Lewis and wife Alice; a sister, Frieda Howard; and sister-in-law, Florence Lewis, all of Cape Girardeau; many nieces and nephews and their families. Many dear friends also survive her.
She was preceded in death by her husband, who died March 5, 1980; her parents; and two brothers, Francis and Bill Lewis.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Paul Kabo officiating. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery.
We are thankful for her life, her Christian example, the loving kindness she showed to others and her generosity of spirit.
Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.
- Leta’s Eulogy
by her son William Bahn
Here I am Lord, what a description of Leta’s life. Full of joy, always there for family friends church and community. Truly an inspiration and role model for others.
She started life on a small farm in Iron county that grew mostly rocks.
I have heard the stories of using the spring as their refrigerator, bartering with farm products and trees because they did not have cash money. Riding to school on the old plow horse with Freeman and Bill and then turning the horse loose to find its wayhome. The family finally had to move to Cape in 1938 when Grampa’s health started to fail and he could not work the farm. Imagine coming to the big city with almost nothing and starting up a boarding house to make a living. Surely Leta got some of herorganizational skills and positive attitude to take on tough projects from her mother. Grandma Lewis’s vision to see what could be accomplished against overwhelming odds had to set the stage for Leta’s later accomplishments.
Newlyweds Judy and Art Jackson started housekeeping in that boarding house on N Henderson.
With the outbreak of World War II, her three older brothers joined the service. Frank to the navy shipping out to Tinian by Guam where they launched the Enola Gay, Francis to become an Army air corps pilot flying fuel over the Hump in the China Burma theater. He piloted a C-109, the tanker conversion of a B24. Freeman was a corporal in the signal corps on Guam. (He was on duty when they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima). Her sister Frieda married Truman Howard a marine who served in the pacific. (He claimed that as paymaster they protected him but that’s not how I remember the marines working.) Grandma and Grampa Lewis took over Wimpy’s restaurant from Freeman and Leta and Bill help run it after school and holidays. A Cape Girardeau Institution on the corner of Kingshighway and Cape Rock for years and know for its great “wimpy burgers” until it closed. Her brother Bill reopened on South Kingshighway and continued the tradition until 1997.
About my dad,
The story goes that Leta first went out with the very dapper Lawrence Bahn during the flood of 43 when he took her canoeing though the then flooded Bahn Brothers’ Hardware store. Her diary states that she went out with him again in March of 44 and that quote, that Lawrence can call again! She did not have quite as good of things to say about numerous other acquaintances. Her last entry in that short diary was of meeting up with friends including Larry for some swimming and dancing, somehow ending up bythe end of the night with two black eyes and stating in her diary that she thought it was over with Bahn. Luckily for me this was not the case as they got together a few years later, while she was working in St Louis for Frigidaire, getting married June18, 1949.
Before I was born she and my dad used to take the nieces and nephew out to the cabin at Taylor Oaks while my dad was building our house. They would roast hot dogs over a campfire and stay in the cabin with no running water. My early recollections were that we always had activities to do. I don’t think Winnie the poo’s house at two corners had anything on us. Stories were told that we would occasionally get away in the 20 acre wood and our dog tiger would find us and brings us back. On the rare occasion when Leta would get upset with her angelic children, Tiger was reputed to stand between us keeping her away, what a dog!
She always took and active role in our lives. When we moved to Bellville IL while father completed his PHD at Wash U, She found time to be President of the PTA and be a cub scout den mother all while teaching full time to help make ends meet. I still remember her making 20’ high banners of the Three Wise Man for the School Christmas program.
Leta loved to entertain, Carol Koepple once remarked that one day she had a luncheon party, went out and played three sets of tennis only to return and have a dinner party for 30. Now that’s some organization! She and my dad loved to play tennis and built themselves a tennis court for their 25th wedding anniversary. Intimidating at the net she was a force to be reckoned with into her seventies.
She set new standards for the role of women. She an Dorothy Penzel were the first two women elected to the board of Elders in this Presbyterian church. Leta went on to expand her role in the church becoming Moderator of the Southeast Missouri Presbyteryand then went on to be Moderator of the Newly formed Eliza Lovejoy Parish New Reunited Church Presbytery. She was a delegate to the 199th Presbyterian General Assembly in Biloxi MS in 1987. Later I remember her showing me an old panoramic black and white photo of her dad as a general assembly delegate over 30 years before.
She continued to step up to the plate working on the Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, the fair board, Southeast Hospital Board of Directors, but her crowning achievement was taking Chateau Girardeau from the infancy of its Feasibility study to Chairmen of the Building Committee completing the six million dollar project months ahead of schedule and over $100,000 under budget. When Presbyterian housing our project consultants wanted to bring in big city architects and contractors she was adamant that we would use are local resources. She had such a rapport with the building trades that when the heavy equipment operators union went out on strike, the lone union man from that organization came to her and explained that he had to strike but he would picket at the side gate so as not to interrupt the construction. You won’t see that consideration very often.
The Chateau was the first of its kind in this community and has been a blessing to the residents and family that have used it. Col. Don Regenhart USAF was concerned about his mother moving into the facility so he called his sister Alice Lewis to ask her about this Chateau Girardeau Retirement community. She told him that it was build by her sister in law Leta Bahn and the discussion ended there. I have nothing but good things to say about the Chateau and the care that my mother received there.
A reluctant farmer after fathers death, she came to relish the term Lady Farmer. Taking an active role in the management of the farm she embarked on an improvement plan of leveling the fields in her Puxico farm bottoms so she could add rice to the plant rotation. The fact that this might have the side effect of improving the duck hunting had absolutely no influence on her sons complete approval of this project. When she visited me in foreign countries she would look at the local rice production and even visited the International Rice Institute in the Philippines. She would also send out rice gift packs at Christmas to encourage friends to eat more rice.
She loved her grandchildren. Babysitting them, taking them on nature walks especially down to the creek looking for crawfish and tadpoles. She showed them the flowers and trees along with recognizing different bird songs. In the kitchen the grandkids were often found covered with flower licking off the beaters and spatula after making a cake or cookies just like their father and uncle did years before. A competitive athlete herself, she loved going to all, their soccer, T-Ball, tennis and other sportsto cheer them on. Even after a lot of her memory was gone Nancy thought she got a smile when relating how Carsen had won a tennis match against one of her friend’s granddaughters.
I got her to travel around the world to visit me in many different Duty Stations. Alaska, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and even Valdosta GA. I think she liked the Philippines the best. Going to watch me to play polo at the Manila Polo club was fun, but the best was getting her a tennis pro to play with along with a couple of ball boys so they did not have to chase their missed shots. I think she thought she was at Wimbledon. Luckily she never figured out that the noise she heard at night in the compound was not the guards setting off firecrackers. It was with great trepidation and much encouragement from me that I got her to visit while I was on loan to the United Nations in Cambodia. We started out in Thailand with a trek into the hill country north of Chang Mai. The first day was a three and a half hour hike up to a hill tribe village to stay in bamboo huts. She started out saying she was tired after the first steep climb, but then noticed the beautiful Orchids in the trees along the trail and was fine after that. The next day we hiked an hour to the elephant camp where we mounted our pachyderms for another hour down to the river, completing the trip by floating on Bamboo rafts to the takeout point. Heading on to Cambodia, I almost couldn’t get her to continue on in country after my boss relayed an old report of Khmer Rouge activity in that area. With more fast talking reminding her that she was a Presbyterian after all, we finally went and it was truly amazing. The temples of Angkor are truly magnificent. Pictures are good but they just can’t impart the grandeur of such sites.
The stories of her life are many and can’t all be relayed here. I know we each have our own favorite. So as we celebrate her life and the outstanding role model she was, I hope you will remember all of those good times. And that when the time comes whenwe are faced with that sometimes unwanted opportunity, I hope we can follow her example and say---
Here I am lord, take me.
- Tribute to Martha Leta Lewis Bahn, by her niece, Lynn Lewis Williamson
Aunt Leta always created FUN activities for us nieces and nephews. My earliest memories are of staying in the cabin at Taylor Oaks while Uncle Larry was building the brick house. He cleared some brush, and built a big fire. We kids roasted hot dogs on saplings or very long skinny trees. Richard, Barbara, and I later got to spend the night in the brick house. We stamped egg cartons: Extra Large, Large, Medium, and Small. I couldn’t count past 10, but Richard could count to 100. We had to get the right count for each specific size of egg.
Twice I went down stairs as a child and found live animals in the basement. Once at Grandma Lewis’ house there were two turkeys alive in the basement with Uncle Larry. Aunt Leta held my hand on the stairs. I stopped half way, and would not go down any further because the turkeys were the same size as me. At Taylor Oaks one time, there were hundreds of baby chicks in the basement. I was a little braver with baby chicks.
When I was very young Aunt Leta took me to Academic Hall at SEMO to see the drama “The Little Match Girl.” Often she took me to SEMO concerts to hear Uncle Larry play his cello. Later when I was at SEMO myself she found me in the audience at The New Christy Minstrels Concert, and came over to say “Hello” to my friends and me.
When I was in Junior High, Barbara, Kathy, and I went ALONE by bus to Belleville to spend a week with the Bahns. Aunt Leta took us to Forest Park for a picnic, to the Jewel Box, to Grant’s Farm, and to the Municipal Opera. We went to the Muny Opera by
Bus. Aunt Leta could open a few cans and prepare an elegant meal. That week Barbara and I learned that chicken is done on the grill when the juice comes out clear.
Aunt Leta was the Perle Mesta of Cape Girardeau. She loved entertaining and hosting parties. She told me once, “Sometimes I set the table two weeks before the party.” I watched her and learned, and later thanks to Aunt Leta, I hosted my own big parties. However, mine were usually buffet style, not sit down dinners. As her niece, I served at a few dinner parties and helped wash dishes too.
In 1967 I was privileged to travel in Europe with the Bahn family for 6 weeks. We camped in Paris, and stayed in bed and breakfast houses in London and Edinburgh. In London we ate at Wimpy’s because of her brothers: Frank, Freeman, and Bill. We also went to the London Stock Exchange to make Uncle Francis pleased. We hiked in Scotland, and one woman told us excitedly, “I have never seen a Mother and daughter look so much alike!” Aunt Leta and I were both speechless, and did not tell the Scottish woman that we were aunt and niece; we did not want to embarrass the woman!
When I moved to St. Louis in 1968, Aunt Leta collected and gave me all sorts of things she knew I needed for my own apartment: dishes, blankets, an iron, and ironing board, and a cookbook. For our wedding December 19, 1970, she organized and carried out the reception in the basement of First Presbyterian Church, and she and Uncle Larry put together all the wreaths and Christmas decorations in the church. Uncle Larry and I took down all this greenery on Christmas Day; he climbed up a tall ladder.
She contributed a large amount of time to First Presbyterian Church and Châteaux. She was the first woman to give a sermon or speech at the annual Presbytery meeting. She then gave the same sermon on Sunday morning at First Church; I think she was the first woman ever in the pulpit on Sunday morning for a sermon. She broke ground in many ways. She was also the first woman to dive into Capaha Park’s new swimming pool. The photographer, Fronabarger, asked the three divers to dive again so he could get a better picture. They obliged, and their diving photos were in the Missourian the next day. Aunt Leta did a lovely swan dive.
Aunt Leta was an excellent role model for me, and had a great impact on my life.
I have greatly missed her wisdom these past 7 years. She can be very proud of her sons, and their wives, Taylor and Nancy, William and Janna, and her beloved grandchildren, Katelin, Jackson, and Carson. Her last request of me was at Phoenicia Restaurant in 2001 “I can’t remember those stories any more of what we did together; please tell them to my grandchildren for me.” Above you have read a few of those stories.
|
1925 - 2007 (82 years)
