Loretta Jones Lay -- Professional Baker

 

 

 

Loretta J. Lay was born on July 20, 1931 in Weldon, Arkansas, the daughter of George William and Thelma Elizabeth Roberts Jones. She was raised on the family farm in Tupelo, Arkansas helping care for the farm animals and the flower and vegetable gardens.  After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother and stepfather, Jack Tarwater, in Augusta and then Newport, Arkansas.  She helped her family sharecrop on cotton farms in Arkansas. Loretta attended schools in Tupelo, Augusta and Newport, finishing the tenth grade at Newport High School in 1948. In 1967 and 1968 she attended the Norwalk - LaMirada Adult Education School and the Bellflower Evening High School, both in California, graduating on June 6, 1968.

As a teenager, Loretta was a bobby-soxer and loved to go to the roller rink and roller skate with family, co-workers and friends. She loved her cats and dogs. She always had one, two, four or six animals all together. Later in life, Loretta became an avid bowler, often bowling on three or four leagues a week. She traveled all over the United States, bowling in city, state and national tournaments. She bowled for over 30 years

In 1949 she began her professional career as a baker, first working for the Sunshine Biscuit Company which at the time was an independent baker of cookies, crackers and cereals in Illinois and was later purchased by the Keebler Company. She later worked for the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) and the Union Bakery in St. Louis, Missouri. After moving to California in 1955, she worked for several baking companies including Pacific Cracker, Hostess Cake, Peerless Baking, Rose Royal Cheese, and then worked for Oroweat Bakery Company through 1982. In 1982 she went to work for Winchell's Donut House in Escondido, California and after several years, helped open and then managed her own Winchell Donut House in Poway, California. She retired from Winchell's in 1996. But retirement from baking was not what she wanted so she returned to her baking career by working at two other independent donut stores, finally retiring from work in 2003. . Loretta was a proud member of the Bakery, Confectionery, and Tobacco Workers International Union.

Loretta married Leo Edward William Fogerty on August 22, 1949 in St. Louis, Missouri and they had two children, Charlotte Ann and Leo Edward Jr. The couple later divorced and on May 14, 1955, she married Lawrenzo Edward Lay in St. Louis, Missouri.  They also had two children, Gregory Allan and Charles Richard. In 1955, the family moved to Bell Gardens, California and finally settled in San Diego, California. After Lawrenzo’s death, she moved to Strawberry Point, Iowa to be near her son.

Loretta J. Lay died in Manchester, Iowa on Tuesday morning, Nov. 4, 2008 at the age of 77.   She was buried along with her second husband, Lawrenzo Lay, in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Point Loma, San Diego, California.

 

Loretta J. Lay's monument in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California

LINEAGE:

(Loretta Jones Lay was the daughter of George William and Thelma Elizabeth Roberts Jones, the granddaughter of George and Jennie Aurora Bridges and the great-granddaughter of John William “Buck” and Nancy Adeline Pugh Bridges.  John William was the fourth child of Orren Dates and Mary Elizabeth Hixon Bridges.  Orren Dates was the first child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)