The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, Mable Lucille (Lucy) Grittman, loving wife and mother of two, went home to be with the Lord at the age of 87. She is survived by her husband, Gary Grittman, and children Virginia (Ginger) Nies and Kevin Grittman. Lucy was the loving and adoring Grammy of eight grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Bryan Nies (one child), Jennifer Rhodes (two children), Daniel Grittman (one child), Kristin Nies-Butler (three children), Jacklyn Christmas (four children), Andrew Grittman, Sean Cruz (three children), and Shelby Grittman (three children).

Lucy was born Mable Lucille Starr the daughter of John and Leota Starr, on March 11, 1935, in Zearing Iowa. She was the middle child and had five siblings, of which they all preceded her in death, Bertha, Cathy, Charlotte, Dorothy and John. The family followed John around the country to wherever he could find work. Moving was a part of growing up at that time. The family ended up in Oregon, where a young Lucy met Gary Grittman for the first time.

Gary and Lucy said “I do” for the first time on June 8, 1956.

They divorced after 20 years but they couldn’t stay apart, and in 1992, they remarried and have been together ever since.

TRUE LOVE! Over 50-plus years of marriage and sharing a beautiful life together.

Gary and Lucy raised their child around the Portland/Hillsboro area.

They enjoyed annual family vacations and family functions throughout the year.

Lucy worked from very early on with the telephone company and ended up at Pacific Northwest Bell and made it her career.

She found a home nestled among the ponderosa pines at the base of the Three Sisters mountains in Sisters before retiring and simply fell in love with the quaint little Western town.

Surrounded by the wildlife, her home blanketed in the still, starry nights of the Sisters wilderness, she was already in Heaven.

She spent many hours on the trails in the area on her horses, one of her many passions.

She was an avid bowler locally, statewide, and nationally, over 40 years! Lucy Loved trips to Reno, specially with family or friends, often going about four times a year! Lucy and Gary were “snowbirds” as often as possible and took every opportunity to take trips to Arizona with her brother-in-law and sister-in-law beginning around 1995.

Lucy most enjoyed spending time with family and friends, hosting and cooking for anyone who happened to find themselves at her door. She has opened her doors to many family and friends over the years, she’s cared for and nursed loved ones, and brought great comfort and joy to all who knew her. Gary and Lucy spent a full life together with yearly family camping trips to Suttle Lake and cherished family gatherings in their warm, loving home for Christmas and many other occasions over the years.

She volunteered for many clubs and events over the decades, Sisters Rodeo, Sisters Garden Club, and she very much enjoyed spending time with her reading buddies at the SMART program with Sisters Elementary School for a number of years.

Lucy spent her final days at home surrounded by family. She found great comfort and joy in the love she had shared with others over her lifetime and in her final days.

In celebrating the way Lucy lived her life, the family asks if anyone wishes to remember Lucy that you make a donation to a club, organization, or group in her name that she enjoyed or that she may have shared with you. Even better, join a group and embrace your community. Do this in honor of the many ways we can share our love, friendship, and fellowship with others just as Lucy did. Lucy: Wife, Mom, Grammy, Aunt, and Friend. She will be greatly loved and missed. May she forever rest in peace.