B. Crist

Letha B. Crist, 94, of Moline died Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007, at the home of her daughter in Encinitas, Calif.
Services are 11 a.m. Saturday, April 14, 2007, in Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. The Reverend Jacqueline Perry will officiate. Private burial will be in Moline Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to any hospice or the First Congregational Church.
The former Letha Beatrice Mabee, Nov. 8, 1912, on the Wayne County, Iowa, farm of her parents, John Lynford Mabee and Dora Beatrice Couchman Mabee. She graduated from Seymour, Iowa, High School in 1929, and received her professional training at McGovern Cosmetology School.
She and her late husband, Harry R. Crist, came to Moline in the early 1930s from Seymour, where they were high school sweethearts. Mrs. Crist worked as a cosmetologist for more than 70 years before retiring in 2005. From 1941 to 1976, she operated her own beauty salon at 520 15th St., Moline. Mr. Crist, quality control manager at Frank Foundries in Moline, died in 1978.
Mrs. Crist was an honorary life member of Short Hills Country Club where she played golf and bridge regularly until her 90th birthday. Mr. and Mrs. Crist became members of First Congregational Church in 1951.
A fan of horse racing, Mrs. Crist was present for the Kentucky Derby on two occasions when horses owned and bred by her brother, John, were among the favorites.
Letha is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Pamela L. and Harold Fuson of Encinitas, and Judith C. and John Boyd of Jamestown, N.C. Both were at her side when she died. Other survivors include a sister, Mrs. Ilaf Roman of Moline; seven grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. Two brothers, John Mabee, a California businessman, and Everett Mabee, who operated the family's Iowa farm, preceded her in death.
Letha's family invites friends to express condolences or light a candle in her memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.