Lucy Etta Ladd

1918 - 2011

Lucy Etta Sotherden Ladd, 93, died on Friday, Oct. 7, 2011. Service: Private. Lucy Etta Ladd was born on July 3, 1918, on a farm in Clay, N.Y., to Frank and Albie Sotherden. She attended a one-room elementary school in Clay and graduated in 1935 from North Syracuse High School. She received a home economics degree from Syracuse University in 1939 and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She then did home demonstrations for G.E. from 1939 to 1944. Lucy Etta married Garth C. Ladd on May 31, 1944, at Sotherden Camp, Cicero, N.Y., on the Oneida lakeshore. She was a member of WPHTC (Wives Putting Husbands Through College) and with the support of the G.I. Bill, helped Garth get his education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. In June of 1950, they moved to River Oaks, then back to Troy, then finally back to Fort Worth. She was a devoted Christian, wife and mother. A founding member of Faith Lutheran Church in Fort Worth, she was active there, teaching Sunday school while her children attended, then knitting for "preemies" and the Mary-Martha Circle. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Don and sister-in-law, Lucille Sotherden; and her son, Marine Capt. George C. Ladd, an F-4 pilot. Survivors: Husband, Garth Ladd; daughter, Gerta Guernsey and husband, Charles, of Prosper; daughter-in-law, Dr. Linda Ladd of Denton; grandchildren, George Guernsey, Elizabeth Beshear, Meredith Ladd, Gretchen Barrientos and Kristen Sussman; six great-grandchildren with the seventh on the way; numerous nieces and nephews.