MVHA SEARCH FOR
MOUNTAIN VIEW ’ S OLDEST LIVING
RESIDENT
Mountain View Historical Association bestows ‘ Oldest Living Resident ’ honor to WWII veteran
Article by Emily Margaretten , Mountain View Voice Staff Reporter
104-year old credits long life to survival genes , mixed in with a bit of luck
It has become something of a yearly tradition for Suzanne Epstein to modify her father ’ s birthday banner ahead of their family celebrations . “ After 100 , it becomes really hard to find banners ,” Epstein laughed , showing her handiwork of taping over the last digit to reflect her father ’ s true age .
On Tuesday , Oct . 15 , Lloyd Lettis turned 104 years old in the Mountain View home that he bought for just under $ 13,000 in 1952 . Lettis still jokes that he thinks he paid too much for it . Lettis also holds the honor of winning the Mountain View Historical Association ’ s “ oldest living resident ” competition . The competition received entries from a few other centenarians , but Lettis was the oldest , according to Carol Donahue , a historical association board member . Still , Lettis is quick to point out that he probably should be considered as a runner-up to the oldest living resident in Mountain View . His good friend , Elzene Yancey , likely holds this distinction since she is nine months older than him but did not enter the competition .
Born in 1920 , Lettis attributes his long life to a combination of luck and perseverance , something he says he inherited from his parents who immigrated to the U . S . from Croatia around the turn of the century . “ I think we have what they call ‘ survival genes ,’ so we just survived ,” Lettis said . Lettis ’ father and mother met in Watsonville , an agricultural town that had a large Croatian population . Both came to the U . S . under fairly modest circumstances but managed to gain a foothold in the apple orchards .
Lettis ’ father worked his way up from an apple packer to a landowner , acquiring multiple orchards of his own , Epstein said . As a young child , Lettis worked hard in the orchards helping his father and brothers . They were comparatively well-off — at that time , people looking for work would
come to their house , asking for jobs in the orchard fields . Even if there was nothing available , his mother would always give the person a cup of coffee , Epstein said .
The family ’ s fortunes changed a few years into the Great Depression . Lettis ’ father had taken out loans , expecting to pay them back after the apple harvest . But then a shipyard strike prevented the apples from making it to market . Creditors called in their loans and the orchards fell like dominos , Lettis said , referring to the foreclosures . They were left with just one orchard , a 52-acre plot of land that is still in the family today .
World War II
Lettis put in long hours working in the orchards , but he was also a good student . Lettis attended U . C . Berkeley with aspirations to become a lawyer . His plans changed however when the U . S . entered World War II . Lettis enlisted in the
“ I think we have what they call ‘ survival genes ,’ so we just survived ,” Lettis said .
U . S . Army Air Forces his senior year and was called up for training about a year later . It was also at U . C . Berkeley where Lettis met his wife , Myrtle . He saw her at a college dance and cut in as a partner , only to admit that he didn ’ t like dancing and asked if she would be willing to see a movie instead . Myrtle wanted to see “ Gone with the Wind ,” which cost 40 cents a ticket . But Lettis only had 50 cents in his pocket , so they each paid their own way and had nickel Cokes afterwards . “ The first date was such a fiasco . I thought I ’ d never see her again ,” Lettis said . That was not the case , and they married exactly two years later on Feb . 2 , 1943 . A few days later , Lettis received a telegram from the U . S . Army Air Forces ordering him to report to basic training in Florida . The army told Lettis that it would provide for all his needs ; however , it did not give him the fare to get to Florida . So , with a bit of luck and a lot of determination , Lettis boarded several trains using his telegram as a ticket while also relying on the goodwill of porters who hid him in the bathrooms , he said .
After Florida , the army sent Lettis to Yale University and then Harvard University to take courses in radar technology . The training eventually led to his career as an engineer , far from his initial aspirations to become a lawyer .
Living in Mountain View When World War II ended , Lettis returned to Watsonville for a few years to work in the apple orchards while also raising a young family with his wife . He resigned his commission from the U . S . Army Air Forces during the Korean War , not wanting to leave his family . As part of the deal though , Lettis agreed to take a defense job in the Bay Area . His family ended up settling in Mountain View in 1952 , in a home that Lettis negotiated down from $ 13,000 . At the time , it was surrounded by apricot orchards , and Lettis quickly distinguished himself as one of the fastest apricot pickers in the neighborhood , filling two buckets to everyone else ’ s one , he said . Lettis and his wife were embraced by the Mountain View community and in turn , they took a very active part in civic life . Lettis was a Boy Scout leader and also involved in the Parent Teacher Association as well . When his father died in 1968 , Lettis took over the apple orchard in Watsonville , commuting long hours and working in the fields to keep it going . His active lifestyle continues to this day , as Lettis still tends to a vegetable garden in his backyard .
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