Lena Catherine Littlehale

Lena “Lee” Catherine Bertoglio Littlehale was born August 28, 1925 in Staunton, Illinois, and died on January 31, 2018 in Santee, California. Born to Tony Bertoglio and Mary Bono Bertoglio, she was raised by her mother Mary and her beloved step-father, Lorenzo Gallina, among a community of Italian immigrants who worked in the coal mines of central Illinois. As the oldest daughter, Lee had responsibility early on in helping raise her younger siblings. She was proud to be the first in her family to graduate from high school. She went to work immediately after, and is proud to have been able, at age 20, to buy a house for her mother.

She met her husband, Charles Littlehale, through her older brother, James. Charles had returned to work in the coal mines after service in the Navy in WWII, and met Jimmy there at the mine. Jimmy told Charles he should marry his sister, Lena, and after meeting Lee, Charles took his advice! They were married in Gillespe, Illinois on May 8, 1948. Charles re-enlisted in the Navy, and served in Springfield, Illinois where their two children, Linda and Leonard, were born. He was assigned to the Naval Base in San Diego in 1954. Aside from a tour in the Philippines, they lived and raised their family in Chula Vista, CA. After Charles retired, they moved to Julian in 1979, and to El Cajon in 2000. Lee was a lifelong Christian, and served for many years as a faithful member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Chula Vista and St. Albans Episcopal Church in El Cajon; she shared her gifts in needlework, baking and a multitude of selfless tasks. With the birth of her grandchildren, she devoted herself as a generous and caring grandmother.

Lee was excellent at loving, feeding and taking care of other people. She dedicated herself to sharing love with others. She and Charles enjoyed traveling in their RV, making and building beautiful things and cooking. Her strength of character, gentle spirit and strong faith have been a guiding light to all who have known her.

Lee is preceded in death by her parents, Tony Bertoglio, and Mary and Lorenzo Gallina; her husband of 57 years, Charles Robert Littlehale; and her siblings James Bertoglio, Louis Gallina, Mary Gallina Harness and Carol Gallina Hutchinson.

She is survived by her sister Elizabeth (Ray) Gallina Rowden of Springfield, Illinois; her children Linda (Robert) Littlehale Parker of Santee, California and Leonard (Ann) Littlehale of Keller, Texas; her grandchildren Matthew (Molly Vetter) Parker of Redondo Beach, CA; Philip (Shannon DeLong) Parker of Downey, CA; Emily (Stephen) Hanley of Santee, CA; Laura Littlehale of Fort Worth, TX, and Sarah Littlehale of Louisville, TX; and her great-grandchildren Jonah Charles Vetter Parker, Quinn Elena DeLong-Parker, Joseph Robert DeLong-Parker and John Patrick DeLong-Parker.

There will be a graveside funeral service on Friday, February 9 at 1pm, at the Julian Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial donations to Mountain Manna, which provides groceries and emergency food in Julian. (Mountain Manna is a part of the Community United Methodist Church, PO Box 460, Julian, CA 92036.)