Jung Yul (Jerri) Letizia passed away peacefully at FirstHealth Hospice House on February 13, 2022.
She was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1934, during the Japanese occupation of Korea. One of three Korean children, she survived the Allied bombings of the Japanese military factories where her parents worked. She fled back to her home in Korea at the end of WW II only to endure another war in which she lost her older brother. After the Korean War, she worked in Seoul, Korea, and met her future husband, SP5 Henry Letizia, a service member in the US Army. They married in 1959 and lived in South Korea and West Germany. When her spouse had his final deployment to Fort Dix, NJ, she settled in nearby Long Branch.
In New Jersey, she worked in the family restaurant business that her spouse founded after retiring from the military. They both retired in 1989 and later moved to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, but she became bored and went back to work for the local school district. Her spouse died unexpectedly in 1999, and in 2005 she moved to Pinehurst, NC, to enjoy time with her grandchildren.
Those who knew her best will never forget her giving, strong heart, willingness to help, and most especially, her joy in cooking for others.
Surviving her are three children, David Letizia, Michael Letizia, his wife Donna Letizia, Dr. Kathleen Letizia, her spouse Mark Spain, two grandchildren, Emily and Ethan Spain, and many cousins in South Korea.
The family thanks the FirstHealth Hospice House staff for their compassion in their mother’s final days and the FirstHealth ICU and ER staff for their extraordinary care. The family also thanks Dr. Bobby Maynor, his nurse Treva McKenzie, Lara Campagna PA-C, Dr. Steven Kent, and the rest of the staff at the Pinehurst Medical Clinic for 17 years of good health.
In place of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice.
Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com
Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.
