Sibyl Elizabeth (Haralson) Lutz (1906 - 1990)

Born 1 Feb 1906 in New Boston, Bowie, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Raymond Price Lutz — married 3 Jul 1929 in Bowie County, Texas

Descendants

Died 28 Jan 1990 at age 83 in New Boston, Bowie, Texas

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ellen Severance [send private message]

Biography

ref< Sibyl was born at home, in New Boston, Texas, in 1906. When she attended East Texas Teachers College, she boarded with Columbus Marion Lutz (family name "Uncle CM") and his wife, Jimmie Lee Fike Lutz (family name "Aunt Tot"). He taught Chemistry (Department Head), and she was the Dean of Women at the college. Sibyl met Raymond Lutz when he came to visit his aunt and uncle. (His uncle CM had put Ray through his own Alma Mater, Purdue University.) ref> She married Raymond Price Lutz in Bowie County Texas on July 3, 1929. Per the 1930 Census, Sibyl and Raymond lived in Chicago, and he was working as a Chemical Engineer at an electrical supply factory. Their three children were born and raised in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. Their daughter was called "Sibyl Marion", because her mother and grandmother were named Sibyl. Per the 1940 Census of Oak Park village, Cook Co Illinois, Sibyl had four years of college, and Raymond had 5 or more, Sibyl Marion was in second grade, and Ray Jr was five. Raymond was a chemical engineer in telephone manufacturing. Per the 1950 Census they were still in Oak Park, Sibyl Marion was 17, Ray was 15, and William was 5.

By 1955 they lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, where Raymond was the Superintendent of Western Electric. Just Bill was still in the home. Also in 1955 they moved to New Mexico, where Raymond worked for Sandia Corp at the Los Alamos lab. (Relayed by Bill Severance to his daughter, this writer, and again by Bill Lutz on June 25, 2023. Remaining info is family history told by the adults involved.)

Sibyl Marion went to the Univ of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, where she met Bill Severance. They married and lived in Norfolk while he was in the Navy, during which time she brought their first baby to New Mexico to visit her parents. (Writer born Dec, 1955.)

In 1958 Raymond was hired as the Vice President of Engineering at Western Electric in New Jersey. He hired everyone for his lab before vacation. He and Sibyl and Bill went to Oklahoma to see Ray graduate (June) and marry Nancy (July). When they returned, the weeds in their yard had grown, and Raymond had a fatal heart attack while weeding. Sibyl was devastated by the loss of her husband, told this writer (in 1980) that she missed him every day. She took her son Bill back home to New Boston,Texas, where they lived with her parents in the home where she was born and raised. She got her Master's degree in History, and taught History and Spanish at the local High school, which her son attended. When her mother died in 1964, she ran her mother's business, the New Boston Hat Shop. She was active in the Methodist Church, and often took food to friends who were ill. She lived frugally, although she had money. She visited her children and grandchildren, and we visited her. She generously funded this writer's grad school from 1981 to 1983. In the late 1980s she developed Dementia, and was placed in the local nursing home, where she passed away the day before her 84th birthday in 1990.

Sources

• Family Records.

ref< Family story of college, how Sibyl and Ray met, Alma Mater, told by Raymond Price Lutz Jr to his niece Ellen Severance (this writer) during her visit to them in Santa Fe, NM in May 2021.>ref Ancestry.com sources include: Texas, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1817-1965. Film number 001839954

US Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Vol 2, Texas,

Texas, U.S., Death Index, 1903-2000,

1930 United States Federal Census; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA. 30th Ward, Jackson Blvd

Census records 1940 and 1950 lived in Oak Park, Cook Co, Ill with husband Raymond Lutz and children Sibyl, Raymond, and William.

U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995: Greensboro, North Carolina City Directory 1955.