Richard and Olivia Letts

Olivia I. Letts passed away on February 1, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 93. She was the first African American teacher in the Lansing school system in 1951 and went on to retire as the Director of Elementary education in 1985.

Richard, Olivia’s husband of nearly five decades, died in 1997. He served as Lansing’s equal opportunity officer and director of human relations. The city’s Letts Community Center honors the couple.