Beth Letheby

Beth Ann Letheby, 75, of Parker, Colo. died May 2, at Life Care Center - Stonegate, after an extended battle with Parkinson’s disease.  Beth and her husband of 54 years, Ronald, were native Nebraskans and long-time Omaha residents. After retiring, they moved to Parker in 2009.

A memorial service will be held on May 14 at 10:00 a.m. at Horan McConaty, 5303 E. County Line Road, Centennial, Colo.

Beth was a “science girl”, building a career in medical technology long before girls were encouraged to study science and math. She was featured in Laboratory Medicine, a national clinical pathology publication, for her work in the University of Nebraska’s Cell Processing Laboratory.

She was born Beth Ann Leach on August 6, 1945, to Rachel Alma (Weber) Leach and Russell Howard Leach. Beth spent her childhood on the family’s small farm near Dorchester, Neb.  With two younger brothers, she was the only girl in her immediate family and the only girl cousin on the Weber side of her extended family.  As a result, she learned to hold her own early on. Beth attended a one-room schoolhouse, where one teacher taught all subjects to students in grades 1-7.  She later attended junior high at a somewhat larger school in Dorchester.

In 1960, the Leach family left the farm in search of better educational and employment opportunities in Lincoln.  Beth attended Lincoln Southeast High School, where she excelled in science, a non-traditional choice for a female during the 1960s.  She graduated with honors in 1963 and entered the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she continued to focus on science, especially laboratory science.  She balanced her academic life with a social life centered on her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega.

Beth also began dating Ron Letheby — “Ronnie” to her — who attended the same church, Lincoln’s Trinity United Methodist.  On July 1, 1967, shortly after Beth graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology, she and Ron were married at Trinity by Dr. Darrel Berg.

The couple moved to Omaha, where Beth began a decades-long career at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  In 1972 she earned a Masters of Science degree in Pathology and Laboratory Technology there, and was subsequently certified as a medical technologist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Beth worked in the center’s clinical laboratory and mentored other med techs.  After her two sons were born — John in 1971 and Ryan in 1975 — she worked part-time shifts, later returning full-time to the University of Nebraska’s Cell Processing Laboratory, where she processed and preserved peripheral stem cells for transplantation.

Beth’s friends and family remember her as a dedicated wife, mother., grandmother and sister.  She and Ron shared a love of University of Nebraska Cornhusker football and, later, country dancing. She also loved nothing more than watching her sons — and later her two grandsons, Will and Jeffrey — play soccer and take part in musical recitals.  In fact, Beth and Ron moved to Parker to spend more time with their grandkids.

Beth is survived by her husband, Ronald; her sons John (and daughter-in-law Jennifer) of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Ryan (and daughter-in-law Sarah) of Omaha, Neb.; grandsons Will and Jeffrey Letheby of Highlands Ranch and her brothers Nile (sister-in-law Lois) of Grand Junction, Colo., and Kent (sister-in-law Amanda) of Cape Coral, Fla.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Beth’s honor to the Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies.