Margaretta L. "Gretta" Mitchell

1924 - 2017

Margaretta L. "Gretta" Mitchell 1924 - 2017
HERKIMER - Margaretta L. "Gretta" Mitchell, age 92, of Herkimer, wife of the late Congressman Donald J. Mitchell, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, May 28, 2017, in Manassas, VA, where she had been staying recently to be near her daughter, Cindy.
She was born on October 30, 1924, in Ilion, daughter of the late Dr. E. Allen and Margaret Tinker LeVee. A lifelong resident of the Mohawk Valley, she was a graduate of Little Falls High School and Syracuse University, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree. Mrs. Mitchell taught Home Economics in the 1960s, in both Mohawk and Ilion schools.
On October 20, 1945, she was united in marriage to Donald J. Mitchell, in the First Presbyterian Church, Little Falls, shortly after he returned home from service as a Navy pilot during World War II. They shared a loving and devoted union of fifty-seven years until his passing on September 27, 2003.
Mrs. Mitchell was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Herkimer, a member for many years of the Herkimer Garden Club, Herkimer Historical Society and a member of the Congressional Wives Club in Washington, DC.
Surviving her are two daughters, Gretchen Barr, and her husband, Sandy, of San Antonio, TX, Cynthia Mitchell-Gingles, and her husband, John, of Manassas, VA; one granddaughter, Susan Ashley Barr, of Dallas, TX; and one step-granddaughter, Lisa Mercedes Gingles, of Manassas, VA; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Besides her parents and husband Don, she was preceded in death by her son Allen Packard Mitchell in 1984.
Calling hours for Mrs. Mitchell will be on Monday from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. at the Fenner Funeral Home, 115 Court Street, Herkimer. Funeral services will be held in the funeral home on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. with the Reverend Janet Gleason, Pastor of the First United Methodist Church Herkimer/Little Falls officiating. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Memorial donations in Mrs. Mitchell's honor may be made to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) mailing address: MADD NY, 33 Walt Whitman Rd., Suite #307, Huntington Station, New York, NY, 11746, or by calling 1-631-547-6233. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.