Loretta Haid Prewitt
December 3, 1935 - December 6, 2024
Obituary
December 3, 1935 – December 6, 2024
Loretta was born in Sioux City, Iowa to George and Bessie (Ellis) Headid. She was the beloved sister of Gene Headid.
Loretta graduated from Central High School in Sioux City in 1954. She was a devoted member of St. Thomas Orthodox Church and was crowned the Syrian Orthodox Youth Organization’s (SOYO) Queen in 1955.
She married Harold Haid and became the loving mother to Curtis Haid and Nancy (Haid) Pappas Barnhart. She and Harold divorced in 1962. She then married Larry Bertram of Shenandoah, Iowa, and he became a cherished part of their loving family. They lived in Sioux City until 1968, at which time they embarked on an exciting move to Seattle, Washington. Even from 2,000 miles away, Loretta made sure to keep in touch and maintain the loving connections with dozens of cousins, many aunts, and uncles in her large Lebanese/Syrian family.
Shortly after their move to Seattle, Larry tragically passed away. Widowed at the young age of 34, Loretta courageously faced her future alone with her two children in tow. Fortunately, she was a woman of intelligence, strength, and resilience. Admirably, she found a way to remain in the Seattle area, successfully raise her children, and, at the same time, provide a wonderful life for them. She worked tirelessly to care for her happy little family for many, many years on her own.
She is survived by her daughter Nancy (married to Rick Barnhart) and her granddaughter Zoey (daughter of Nick Pappas). She endured the heartbreaking loss of her grandson, Dominick Pappas, who gained his angel wings in June 2000. She is also survived by her son Curtis, his wife Susan (Beck), and her grandchildren, Austin Haid, Lauren Haid, and Sterling Haid.
Loretta was a devoted, doting grandma. She was a loving caregiver to Nancy’s children, Zoey (Pappas) Vaughn, and Dominick Pappas. Yet, her role as mom and grandma didn’t end there. She became the ‘adopted’ and adored mom and grandma to many others. Kathy, Leslie, and Kristin all consider her to be their ‘mom’, and she loves Kathy’s and Leslie’s children and grandchildren as her own. She was built to be a mom and grandma. She was simply born with an all-encompassing heart, one that was big enough to hold other hearts in need.
She would do anything for her grandkids. One time her firstborn granddaughter, Zoey, called to ask if she would take a cat in need of a home. Grandma said no. After a few minutes to think it over, she quickly called back and said, “You know what, I will take the cat.” She took such pride in giving that cat a home. She truly only did it to make her granddaughter happy. That’s just the type of grandma she was. Incidentally, she went on to have “Baby” the cat for years to come. Even though Baby was a slightly psychotic cat, we all grew to love her.
Grandma never felt she expressed herself very well in words. The reality was, however, that she never needed to write anything down. We always just knew how much she loved us simply by how she cared for and supported us. She lived close to Dominick’s resting place and visited him often, especially when her beautiful blue hydrangeas were in bloom and she could leave them for him.
Loretta’s Colorado grandchildren were showered in their grandma’s love from afar. Every birthday and Christmas holiday would mark the annual delivery of big boxes that were overstuffed with candies, gifts, and new wallets bursting with an array carefully selected gift cards. The bulging boxes became a running joke in our family! We always raised our eyebrows and laughed that they never exploded in transit. They will forever be a symbol of grandma’s overflowing heart, her desire to spread joy, and her great passion for family.
The outpouring of her heart, her loving kindness, and her unfailing support deeply touched everyone, young and old alike. She welcomed each person with open arms and had a special way of making them feel part of the family. From the first moment in her presence, you could feel the warmth of her smile and see the light shine from her eyes. She had such a contagious laugh that you couldn’t help but laugh along with her. It was the most joyous sound! There was always something to giggle about when she was around. She was an Earth Angel.
Her kind and calm demeanor, her witty sense of humor, her brilliance, her uncanny ability to remember numbers, her dedication to any project she took on, and her unconditional love of family and friends became her hallmark and is her legacy. She was a rare, shining example of heartfelt generosity and authentic compassion.
She was a successful career woman who excelled in banking, in payroll at Boeing, and then in Human Resources at Highline Public Schools. Her work life offered her many opportunities to make lifelong friends that she counted on for support and love, and more importantly, who gave her such joy. They became her ‘day family’. She loved collaborating with them while hearing about their lives, passion projects, adventures, and victories. No one could have been a better cheerleader than Loretta.
Throughout her life and marriages, she assembled extremely large blended families of children and grandchildren. This extended family, along with step-children, countless cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, all claimed her as their own. No matter the relationship, no matter how long it’d been since the last visit, no matter the conversation, she was always, always available to support, love, provide humble guidance, a smile, and an encouraging word. She had an innate ability to anticipate what someone needed even before they did.
In recent years, she lived in an apartment in an assisted-living community. There, she was quick to make friends and could often be found taking walks with her new buddies around the hallways. Once in a while she made it to the Bingo Room, but they sometimes cut into her afternoon nap time.
She loved Elvis, game shows, the casino, the Wizard of Oz machine AT the casino, cooking Lebanese food for her family during the holidays, Chic-Fil-A, the Mariners, black licorice, manicures and pedicures, a burgundy lip shade, curly hair shampoo, hand-wipes (waaaay before they were necessary for the pandemic), pineapple shakes from Dairy Queen, trail mix, a good white chocolate mocha (with whip!), pasta shells with marinara, and Hostess cupcakes.
The stories and adventures she shared with us over the years will keep us smiling. She could always find a reason to make us laugh. She was effervescent, quick, and witty in the warmest and most wonderful way. Most of all, she always made sure we felt deeply loved and cherished, sometimes by simply texting just to say “hi honey, I hope you have wonderful day. I am sending love”. Her thoughtful words endlessly and effortlessly flowed from her heart to ours. It was a constant, uncompromising, unconditional message to all of us.
We will never forget her powerful capacity to share her warm, gentle spirit and her unshakable love. How blessed we are to have been loved with such fortitude, purity, and deep sincerity. Her profound selflessness and endless compassion were ever-present. It brought a potent stream of comfort and security to all of us.
How profoundly fortunate we have been. She was a rare and precious gift who nourished our hearts and souls with every kind word, thought, and deed. We will love her and miss her forever.
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