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Lethene has B.A. in History and Master of Librarianship degrees from the University of Washington. She enjoyed a 27-year career in community and public libraries and retired from the Washington State Library twenty years ago. After retirement she served five years as a public library board member and six years as a member of the Washington State Advisory Council on Libraries. She taught one quarter at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Washington and for ten years gave a half-day seminar there on therapeutic use of literature.
She was active in library associations at both the state and national levels, and in community organizations related to literacy, health information and education, mental health, and developmental disabilities, serving on committees and as a board member and officer. In 2000 she was named as one of Washington State’s five top living library advocates of the 20th century.
She has no direct ancestors who came west on the Oregon or California trails; they came either via the Isthmus of Panama or by ship, or waited for the railroad to be completed. Her interest in the overland emigrant trails stems from a more general interest in migration routes and patterns and their relationship to national expansion.
Lethene has been a member of OCTA since 1992 and has attended most national conventions since that time. She is nearing the end of her second term on the OCTA Board and is currently chair of Board Committee C. She also served a previous term as OCTAS Secretary. She served as a board member and as president of the Northwest chapter and is currently a member of all OCTA chapters. She has planned and led outings for the Northwest chapter, assisted with conventions in Baker city, Pendleton and Vancouver, and worked on the COED Committee.
Lethene is a member of a number of genealogical and historical organizations. She is a past president of two genealogical societies, and teaches classes and makes program presentations on family history on a regular basis. She has four grown children, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.
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