Anita Tietjen passed away in her sleep last Friday evening after a long fight with cancer. She joins her husband Herman, who passed away Nov. 10, 2013.
She was born to Vance and Aurelia Patton in Julian, Calif., and met the love of her life, Herman Tietjen, in San Diego, where she was attending college. They were married in 1952 and soon began a family that would grow to become known as "The Tribe" with four children, unofficially adopted kids, close friends, relatives and a multitude of pets who were all part of the Tribe. Over the course of the 61 years that Herman and Anita were married, there were many memorable camping, fishing, hunting trips, and holiday celebrations that the whole Tribe will fondly remember.
After beginning her career in education, teaching in a one room schoolhouse in Willow Point, Nev. She went on to become the librarian for Lincoln Park Elementary School in Sparks, then retiring after 26 years. Her passing leaves a legacy that cannot be measured. She was instrumental in helping form a lifelong love of reading and learning in countless generations of the children she came into contact with in the course of her career.
After her retirement, she then moved to Winnemucca, Nev., and together with her husband built their dream home and happily lived there, volunteering at the Humboldt Museum until the health of both Herman and Anita became too fragile for them to live at home.
Anita is survived by her four children and their families; Deborah Shaw(Dave), Ruth Tietjen(Brad), Wayne Tietjen (Debbie) and Mary Ritland (Chris).
Following Anita and Herman's wishes, there will be no formal services. However, there will be a celebration of life for both Anita and Herman at a later date (as yet to be determined) sometime after the holidays. We will make every effort to notify everyone when we have a date set.
The family wishes to thank the wonderful team of doctors, nurses and CNA's at LifeCare Center of Reno for their compassionate and professional care of Anita during her difficult final journey. In particular, we wish to thank Theresa, Joel, Sarah, Sherrie and Norbert for your kindness and compassion toward our mom.[[In-content Ad]]
