Dorothy Irma Pretzlaff Netherton, age 102,of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and formerly of Melvin, Illinois, passed away peacefully on Oct. 13 at the West Shores retirement community in Hot Springs, in the company of her family.
Mrs, Netherton was born on Feb. 15, 1917, on a Sibley Estate farm in Sibley, Ill., to Bertha Trebes Pretzlaff and Fred Pretzlaff, the third of six children. She was a graduate of Sibley High School and business school in Glen Ellyn, Ill. She was working at the Ford County Farm Bureau and Extension Office in Melvin, Ill., when she met Arthur Leland Netherton of Melvin. Their first date was on December 6, 1941, the day before Pearl Harbor. They married on May 22, 1943, in Norfolk, Va., where he was stationed with the U.S. Navy.
After the war, Irma and Leland operated the Netherton family farm in Melvin until 1979, when they retired to Hot Springs. They enjoyed many happy years of travel across the U.S. and to locations abroad. Mrs. Netherton was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother,excellent cook, expert seamstress and gardener, generous and supportive mother and grandmother, kind and thoughtful neighbor, and an ardent follower of national political affairs.
Her children and grandchildren particularly enjoyed hearing stories about her life during the war. Mrs. Netherton said that while the war years represented a dark and sometimes frightening period, she and her husband had many adventures, including a legendary road trip with Bob Kantor, also in the Navy. Traveling at 35 mph, with rationed gas and tires, the three spent two weeks crossing the country through the southern states, from Norfolk to California, to Leland's new assignment, near Berkeley. The friendship with Bob and his family lasted a lifetime and has continued through their children's generation.
Mrs. Netherton is survived by children Paula Netherton Edsall (Don), of Kalispell, Mont.; Warren Netherton (Kris), of Hot Springs, Ark.; Martha Netherton (Bill Wanlund), of Falls Church, Va.; and Nancy Netherton, of Madrid, Spain. Grandchildren are Elizabeth Wanlund Munsen (Roger); Anne Wanlund (Derek Brand); Amy Edsall Thoresen (Sky); Andrew Edsall (Elizabeth); Evan Marks; and Neal Marks (Crista). Five great-grandchildren survive her, as well as step-grandson Angelo Licursi (Rachel) and their three children. A foreign exchange student "daughter" who lived with the Nethertons when she was in high school, Annia Vargas de Redondo, has remained close to the family and especially to her American "Mom."
Mrs. Netherton is preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and siblings Tessie Pretzlaff Hyde, Francis Pretzlaff, Irene Pretzlaff Johnson, Ruth Pretzlaff Christensen, and Eldon Pretzlaff.
Memorial services will be held 2:00 pm Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at Gross Funeral Home in Hot Springs. Visitation will be held one hour before the service.
