Letah Marie Sauer: 1933-2025

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Letah Marie Sauer

Letah Sauer passed away, peacefully on Dec. 23rd, 2025 with her children present.

Letah Marie Pennel was born May 6th, 1933 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Kelton and Lulu Pennel. The youngest of 6 surviving children.

Before Letah started school, the family moved to Hill City, in the Black Hills S.D. The family was quite poor, but the kids didn’t realize it as the whole town was in the same boat. Letah attended Hill City Grammar School from kindergarten on and graduated from Hill City High School in 1951. This was all in the same building with kindergarten in the basement, then working up to High School in the upper levels. In High School Letah was a cheerleader and later taught her daughter, Julie some of the cheers. There were 10 students in Letah’s graduating class but 2 or 3 of the young men went into the military before graduation.

In August of 1951 Letah married Paul Sauer and moved out to California. The couple lived with Paul’s family on their ranch in North San Juan, Ca, then rented their own place, nearby, in Nevada City where Letah worked at Montgomery Wards catalogue office. Around 1960 they moved to Chico, Ca and Letah worked as a bookkeeper at Chico Tractor which sold and repaired tractors.

Paul and Letah had not been able to have children but in 1961, through a mutual friend, they were able to adopt their daughter, Julie Ann, at 3 days old. About 5 years later they adopted their son, Richard Paul, through the Children’s Home Society at 6 weeks old.

Letah was an active volunteer at her kids’ school and continued to work on and off part time for Chico Tractor until she and Paul started Sauer Excavating with a Cat and dump truck, at which time she became the bookkeeper for their business. She also kept the books for Sauer Garbage Service which they ran for a few years with a hired driver and two garbage trucks. Letah came up with the motto for Sauer Garbage: “Satisfaction guaranteed or double your trash back!”

Through the excavating business, Paul was sometimes hired to tear down old houses. The couple had purchased property in the country, so when one of these “old houses” was in good shape, Paul would call the house movers to have it moved to their property. So, they got the house for free, except for the price to move it. Paul and Letah then renovated these homes, 9 in all, allowing them to give each of their children a home and have several rentals.

Paul and Letah enjoyed camping with their kids, and friends in their pickup and camper and later in their motorhome. They enjoyed visiting both of their families, but Letah especially loved when they traveled “back home” to visit her family in South Dakota and Nebraska.

When Paul left and moved back to North San Juan in 1989, Letah got to spend lots of time with her first grandchild, Noah, who was born that year, and later Christy, born in 1991. Letah helped Julie with her small family day care and when the family moved to Eureka in 1994, to escape the hot Chico summers, Letah moved with them. She liked living on the coast and very often commented “It’s SO GREEEN!”.

Letah loved helping with her grandkids as they grew up, including Rich’s boys, Adam and Dylan, and found a good balance between spoiling them as a grandma and still having to live in the same house. Letah became a “Mall Walker” at the Bayshore Mall and made friends with the other Mall Walkers. Several days a week she’d fix dinner for the family, then retire to her master bedroom for peace…and Family Feud.

Food was definitely Letah’s love language with the exclamation point being COOKIES! Letah loved her church family and eventually became known as The Cookie Lady. Once a month, before Cookie Sunday, she would call her list of cookie volunteers to bring a batch or two, then she would bake all day Friday and Saturday to bring 5 different kinds.

Letah loved the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior and faithfully read her Bible every day.

In 2018 dementia began to take over and although she could no longer bake or drive or many other things, she remained her happy, funny, storytelling, loving, grateful, and a little mischievous self, always looking forward to when she could see her grandkids and her one great-granddaughter again…even though she wouldn’t remember seeing them once she’d had a nap, or a meal.

Letah was preceded in death by her mother and father, brothers Warren (Barbara), Bob, Chuck (Dorothy) Pennel and toddler brother Glen. Sister Irma (Vic) Kreutzer & infant sister, Joanne Pennel. Ex-Husband, Paul Sauer. Brother-in-laws Jim Halley, Al, Bob (Betty), Leonard, Arnold (Vera) & George (Barbara) Sauer. Sister-in-Law Helen (Larry) Campbell. Nephews Dan & Kevan Pennel, Kenny Gardner and Bobby Joe Sauer. Great Nephews Todd & Jesse. Great Niece Shari and Great-Great Niece Jordanne.

Letah is survived by her sister, Lois Halley, sister-in-law Gini Pennel. Daughter Julie Fillman (Bruce), Son Rich Sauer (Tonya), Beloved grandchildren Noah Flemens, Christy Keller, Matthew & Andrew Fillman, Dylan Yielding Harper, and Adam Sauer. Soooo many nieces and nephews whom she adored, great nieces & nephews & great greats.

Letah gave her whole body donation to the University of California, San Francisco, Willed Body Program.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 at 1:00pm at Calvary Chapel Eureka, 1300 California St. In lieu of flowers, Letah preferred you donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital or plant a tree in her honor.