Funeral services for Grace Pitt, 96, formerly of Portales, will be at 2:00 PM, Thurs., Jan. 25, 2018 at the Southside Church of Christ with Marlin Poynor officiating, assisted by Don Thomas. Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Max Pino, Michael Pino, Conner Pino, Marcus Sanchez, Matthew Sanchez and Rod Self serving as pallbearers. Billy Prater, Leroy Thomas, Bill Turnbow and Jerald Daughrity will be honorary pallbearers.
Grace Elizabeth Pitt was born Mar. 2, 1921 on the family farm at Port, OK to the home of Goldie Agnes (McCune) and Charlie Peter Wright, and died Jan. 22, 2018 in Truth or Consequences, NM. While she was still very young, the family moved to a farm at Lone Wolf, OK, and it was there that she received her education and graduated from high school in 1939. That same summer, she met Elbert Pitt at a tent revival meeting, and four months later they were married on Nov. 4, 1939 in Hobart, OK. Elbert went off to serve in World War II, and after his discharge, they moved to Turlock, CA where they lived for a number of years. In 1959, they moved to Portales to make their home.
Grace worked as a sales clerk at Sprouse Reitz and Wacker’s variety stores, and then finally she worked in the yard goods department at Trader Horn’s. She enjoyed sewing and cooking and baking. She was was well known for her coconut pound cakes. Grace was a very social person, and was always ready for a game of dominoes, or bridge or some other card game. She was a faithful member of the Church of Christ.
In the early 2000’s she moved to Vernon, TX to help her granddaughter care for her children. In addition she acted as the church librarian. In 2009, she moved to Albuquerque to make her home with her daughter, and in recent months she had been a resident of a home in Truth or Consequences.
Grace is survived by a daughter, Carolyn (Pitt) Kirlin of Albuquerque; an adopted daughter, Michelle Gallegos, also of Albuquerque; her former son-in-law, Max Pino of Portales; three grandchildren, Carrie (Bobby) Burrus of Vernon, TX, Lisa (Marcus) Sanchez of Portales; and Michael Pino of Portales; six great-grandchildren, Courtney, Emily and McKinzie Burrus, Conner Pino and Matthew and Marcus Sanchez; and a great-grandson, Bryson. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Altha Earnest, three brothers, Cleo, Orville and Robert Wright, a daughter, Marilyn Pino who died Nov. 11, 2009, and by her husband, Elbert Pitt, who died Nov. 9, 1993.
