IN MEMORIAM
Bob Lettis, Cooperstown; Retired Art Professor
Helped Capture Bridge At Remagen During WWII
COOPERSTOWN – Donald Robert (Bob) Lettis, one of the last surviving combatants in the Allied capture of the Bridge at Remagen during World War II and a retired art professor, passed away early Monday morning at his home. He was 88.
Born July 29, 1925, in Cooperstown, he was a son of Donald F. and Charlotte (Hall) Lettis. Raised in Cooperstown, Bob graduated from Cooperstown High School, Class of 1943. He enlisted in Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and other engagements.
The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen was the last intact span over the Rhine, and its capture greatly assisted the Allied invasion of Germany and subsequent drive to the Danube. Bob’s role included establishing several observation posts that located German artillery trying to destroy the bridge. He received a Bronze Star and was honorably discharged on March 10, 1946.
Upon his return to Cooperstown, he studied art education at Syracuse University. While a student, he married Grace Annamay (Gae) Carlsen of Oneonta in 1947. On his graduation, the Lettises moved to Worcester.
After teaching for only one month, Bob was called back into the Army for the Korean Conflict. Fortunately, by the time he was ready to embark for Korea, the war appeared to be over when Marines drove into North Korea, stopping at the Chinese border. (Later the Chinese entered the war.)
Rather than being released, he was sent to Europe and served at the Seventh Army Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, for a year. He was discharged a second time from service in 1951. While he was away, his daughter Charlotte was born.
Onhis return, he taught at Worcester and Schenevus central schools for five years., then taught high school art at Cooperstown Central School from 1956 to 1964. During his years in Cooperstown, he was involved with Boy Scouting and amateur theatre productions. He also joined the Lions Club of Cooperstown on Feb. 2, 1958, and served as club president in 1963.
In 1964, Bob and his family moved to New Jersey. He attended Pratt Institute in New York City and received a master’s in fine art in 1966. The Lettis family then moved to Hingham, Mass., and Bob taught printmaking and art education at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston for 21 years. At Mass Art, the only publicly supported art college in the country, he served at vice president of academic affairs for five years and chairman of the Art Education Department for several years. He retired as professor emeritus in 1987.
Following his retirement, Bob and Grace spent several years traveling in Europe and the Caribbean, as well as visiting their children, who live throughout the United States. They moved back to Bob’s native Cooperstown in 2002.
Bob is survived by three children, Charlotte Richardson and her husband, Kirk, of Portland, Ore., Paula Bedford and her husband, Jim, of Northville, Mich., and Daniel Lettis of Clayton, N.M.; six grandchildren, Briget Bent, Nicolle Meyer, Jacob Meyer, Daniel Meyer, Sam Richardson, and Henry Richardson; three great grandchildren, Tanner Bent, Jillian Bent and Katelyn Torres; and one niece, Carol Krutz.
Bob was predeceased by his beloved wife of 66 years, Grace Annamay Carlsen Lettis, who died Jan. 5, 2014; his parents, Charlotte Hall Lettis and Donald F. Lettis; one brother, James F. Lettis, who died May 14, 2006; and a nephew, Frank Krutz, who died in 2012.
The memorial service is at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 5, in the Augusta Clark Room of the Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main Street. The Rev. Betsy Jay, Bassett Hospital chaplain, will officiate. Interment will be at a later date in the Lettis Family Plot in Lakewood Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lions Club of Cooperstown, P.O. Box 2, Cooperstown, NY 13326 or The Charlotte Hall Lettis Nursing Scholarship Fund, c/o Cooperstown Central School District, 39 Linden Ave., Cooperstown, NY 13326.
Arrangements are under the care and guidance of Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home.