Letha Faye Havens, daughter of the late Fred and Ruth (McCarty) Havens, was born August 3, 1933, in Vanzant, Missouri, and departed this life October 25, 2021, in Vanzant, Missouri. She was 88 years, 2 months, and 22 days of age.
When Letha was only a year old her mother died unexpectedly from typhoid fever, so she and Fred went to live with her Grandma Polly, and her uncles Earnest and Roy. Since “the boys” never married they all lived and worked together on their dairy farm. Letha was a true emblem of an Ozarkian woman. She was strong and stout and could work any man under the table and never minded to.
Letha could drive a tractor, make hay, lay block and build barns and could coax any flower or vegetable from under the earth. She loved raising her dairy calves, and working genetic lines with their dairy stock to improve production and confirmation in their registered herd. She didn’t just raise animals. She knew them. She understood them. Her heart broke to hear a calf bawl or to pick a flower from where it was trying to bloom. She truly loved raising and nurturing life in its many forms and facets and was a humble and tenderhearted caretaker.
Letha believed that there was always, unequivocally, a right way to do everything. And, behind every staunch opinion were the years of firsthand experience to support her convictions. She was never afraid to tell you when she felt she was right, but she was never too proud to admit when she was wrong.
In the winter months, when the outdoor chores lulled, Letha would quilt and embroidery, and make clothes for the boys because, “store bought overalls just never fit the right way”. She became an artisan in the craft of quilting and embroidery and she was so proud of the People’s Choice Award she recently won for her Cathedral Window Quilt. She loved to paint, and draw, and was also a true historian, authoring at least two family genealogies.
More than the boys, or grandma, or the farm, Letha loved the Lord. She truly had a heart to care for God’s creation great and small, and had a heart that sought above all else to please Him. She often spoke about the Bible and her love for the Word. She loved to listen to preaching and would often say that the Lord loved doing puzzles, because when she would ask the Lord to help her to “find just one piece,” pretty soon she would find three or four. In her final days, she had peace knowing she would one day get to see her heavenly Father and rock on the porch next to Grandma again.
