Leona Tuttle

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. Her parents, Karl and Marie Amelia Sternberg, were both immigrants from Germany. She was one of seven children. Sternberg grew up on her parents' 40-acre (160,000 m2) farm and attended school in a one room schoolhouse. Sternberg left at the age of 17. She took a train to Detroit in order to meet her sister. Once in Detroit, she worked as a housekeeper for architect Louis Kamper for two years. She later attended the Ferris Institute before taking a job with the Michigan Central Railroad department for several years. 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. The continued to reside in Detroit for decades, but moved to Florida part time following Stanley's retirement. Stanley Tuttle died in 1973. 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. 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. Leona Tuttle died on November 23, 2007, in Somers Point, New Jersey, at the age of 111. She was survived by two daughters, fifteen grandchildren and forty-one great-grandchildren.