Letha Conrad, 87, died July 25, 2021, Sedona, Arizona. Predeceased by husband, John Conrad; twin sister, JoAnn Weber and brother, Charles Garland Parker. Survived by daughters, Jane Conrad, Angela Gummow, and Claire Conrad; sister, Betty (Frank) Parker; granddaughters, Meaghan (J.D.) Davis, Callie Gummow, Katherine McIntosh, Christina Tucker; great-grandsons, Johnny and Ben Davis; many beloved nieces and nephews.
Letha was born and raised in Decatur, where she and her twin sister JoAnn excelled at school, were active members of the Methodist Church on Memorial Drive, sang in the church choir, and played pranks on teachers, swapping assigned seats and laughing for much of their youth. (Unfortunately for them, there was a pop quiz on one of these days!)
While at the University of Alabama, Letha met John Conrad at a car race, and the rest was history. She spent the next 56 years coping with John’s love of speed and motor vehicles! They married in 1956, and moved to Michigan, where John started his long career as an engineer for Ford Motor Company. On behalf of Ford, in addition to the Detroit area, Letha and John lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mexico City, Kingman, Arizona, and since 1988, in Sedona, Arizona. Letha’s deepest passions were learning about the history, language, and culture of different places, and reading. She was a voracious reader all her life, and her intellect was her most striking characteristic. After her last daughter graduated from college, Lee had the opportunity to travel even more widely – in Europe, the Middle East, and China. She said recently that she would never have dreamed that she would get to see Rhodes, Greece in her lifetime.
In addition to her family, Letha’s greatest commitment was to the United Methodist Church. She served as president of the UMW in every church of which she was a member, sang in the choir, worked at rummage and book sales, established a youth group when her daughters were in high school, and served as a state-wide representative of United Methodist Women of Arizona. She was also an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Funeral details: 2 p.m. (AZ time) Friday, August 6, 2021 at Sedona United Methodist Church, and may be lived-streamed on https://www.sedonaumc.org. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Sedona United Methodist Church.
