Leona Tuttle
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Leona Wilhelmina Tuttle (April 13, 1896 - November 23, 2007) was an American supercentenarian.
Tuttle was born as Leona Wilhelmina Sternberg on April 13, 1896, near the town of Bad Axe, Michigan.[1] Her parents, Karl and Marie Amelia Sternberg, were both immigrants from Germany.[1] She was one of seven children.[1] Sternberg grew up on her parents' 40 acre farm and attended school in a one room schoolhouse.[1]
Sternberg left at the age of 17. She took a train to Detroit in order to meet her sister.[1] Once in Detroit, she worked as a housekeeper for architect Louis Kamper for two years.[1] She later attended the Ferris Institute before taking a job with the Michigan Central Railroad department for several years.[1] She was able to travel cross country through the free passes which she received through her employer.
Sternberg married her husband, Stanley Tuttle, in 1924.[1] The continued to reside in Detroit for decades, but moved to Florida part time following Stanley's retirement.[1] Stanley Tuttle died in 1973.[1] Leona Tuttle never remarried. After her husband's death, Tuttle lived with her grown daughters in the Detroit metropolitan area, New Jersey, Utah and Florida.[1]
One of Tuttle's main passions was travel. She visited Hawaii, Germany, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. Tuttle visited Alaska with her two daughters at the age of 95.[1]
Leona Tuttle died on November 23, 2007, in Somers Point, New Jersey, at the age of 111.[1] She was survived by two daughters, fifteen grandchildren and forty-one great-grandchildren.[1]
