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Note: We have a copy of her birth certificate. Her parents were living at North Winchester Avenue (between Wilson and Leland) in Chicago when she was born.
Darthea's mother, (Lucy Abbott) was Doctor Wallace Abbott's sister. Doctor Abbott started what is now called Abbott Laboratories, a major pharmaceutical company in North Chicago, Illinois, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ABT).
All of her grandchildren called her "Nana". We believe that the oldest grandchild Pam, (Mary Pamela Dedrick), was the one who gave her that nickname.
Her first husband, Harry Lipphardt, died in 1942, in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Nana moved to Scottsdale from Glencoe, Illinois with her second husband, Charles Tuttle, in 1949. They called themselves, "the 49'ers". Her son, Louis, advised that they moved to Scottsdale to be closer to her parents, who had moved to Phoenix. Her parents (Lucy and E. H. Ravenscroft) had a home in the Biltmore Estates.
Notes from the Ravenscroft Family History, 1954: Nana and Charles "Gaga" owned and operated the Phoenix Feed and Seed Company, at 4111 N. 7th Avenue (Phoenix). They later relocated to a larger place at 3333 N. 7th Street, where they also included a pet shop. They had all kinds of birds, parakeets, canaries, cockatoos and white rats, hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks and a stump-tailed monkey called a "macaque". They carried all kinds of pet supplies besides feed for horses, cows and chickens. At the new location, they had facilities for bathing and clipping dogs. On their ten acre ranch in Scottsdale, they had two fine collie dogs, riding horses, cats, and raised their own frying chickens and pullets for laying to supply the family. Nana kept busy with seven grandchildren, visiting her mother every day, and keeping the books for the business. They built a summer log cabin, called "DC Lodge", on Rainbow Lake, Lakeside, Arizona which had 12 acres with lake frontage and a forest of Ponderosa Pines. (DC stood for Darthea and Charles).
Most of us first remember visiting her in the 1950's at her large ranch home that was just north of the town (it was only a town then) of Scottsdale, Arizona - right on Scottsdale Road (DC Ranch Box 573). This ranch had everything: corrals, horses, hay lofts, chickens and lots of dogs (everyone's favorite was "Poochie" (he didn't have a tail). Every grandchild loved to go visit, as Nana had all of the neat stuff, and we were always welcome. Nana lived there with her second husband Charles Tuttle, only we all called him "Gaga" (probably thanks to Pam again). Nana gave me (George) my first and only horse, "Freckles", named because she had lots of large brown spots.
Nana and Gaga (Charles) raised and showed beautiful collie dogs. They did a lot of traveling by car to many dog shows, and won numerous awards. They also had a beautiful home in the White Mountains of northern Arizona, (Lakeside), and it was located on Rainbow Lake (that home was built for them by a couple of Morman brothers, about 1953). So naturally, the grand-kids were always invited up there during the summers to escape the heat of the Phoenix valley, and help with chores (mainly, the many collie dogs).
Nana eventually moved from the large home on Scottsdale Road, to a much smaller home north of town on Shea Boulevard. I remember visiting her home there frequently, and we always got to watch home movies of the family. My father advised that these movies were made by Nana's father (Edward H. Ravenscroft). They were films of our parents and their parents...my first exposure to genealogy.
The large log cabin home in Lakeside eventually was sold also.
Then another move to California. They moved to Goleta and the Santa Barbara area. And again Nana had another big beautiful home. By this time, our family had moved to Tucson, so we did not get to see her as often as before.
Her second husband, Charles (Gaga) Tuttle, died in 1967. She later married Charlie Thomas in 1976.
When Charlie Thomas died in 1983, Nana moved back to Phoenix. She lived with her son Donald and his wife Peg for about 2 1/2 years. When Donald's health began to deteriorate, and required more of Peg's time, Nana moved in with a friend of hers (Elda Glick), who also raised collie dogs. Elda was living with her daughter, who was a registered nurse, so they both had the best of care.
When the time came that she was no longer able to take care of herself, her son Louis, (dad) located a full-care nursing home for her in the Phoenix area (Peoria). Once again she was back in Arizona, and we all went to visit her there frequently. Nana had grandchildren scattered all over Arizona, and she always seemed to have visitors at her nursing home. The people who worked there commented that Darthea always had visitors. She was a very special lady! We all loved her.
She was living at the Plaza Del Rio Care Center in Peoria, Arizona when she passed on. She was a wonderful woman, and she will be missed by all of the family, and many others.
We have a copy of her death certificate.
She is buried in the Green Acres Cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona, between husbands, Charles Tuttle and Charles Thomas. The cemetery is located at 401 N. Hayden Road. She is in the Garden of Flowers Section, Lot 343 and Space 3.
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