Loretta M. Paytash

Loretta Mary Paytash passed peacefully from complications of heart disease in her daughter’s Kent Island home. She was 95. She was born on December 15, 1921, in Indiana, PA, to William Stadtmiller and Rebecca Stile Stadtmiller in Indiana, PA. After high school, she worked at a local photo study and then the local dime store. Here she met her future husband, Matthew Paytash, while working at the local 5 and 10 cents store at the soda fountain. They formally met by bumping heads while they were both trying to pick up a dropped fork. World War II was in full swing, and Matt joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1944, Loretta then worked at a munitions factory earning 75 cents per hour making hand grenades. She would lower the arm and insert the pin—one slip and the grenade would blow up in five seconds. On June 29, 1946, Loretta and Matt were married, and they moved to Washington, DC, where Matt was an employment counselor in the Department of Labor and Loretta obtained a degree from Strayer’s Business College. Loretta then worked as a dictaphone transcriber for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for ten years, until she had her daughter, Rebecca Anne Paytash. The family moved to Bethesda where she and Matt raised Rebecca and great niece Deborah Eve Elder, their “second daughter." In 1979, after the girls were successfully launched, Loretta and Matt moved to Leisure World of Silver Spring, MD. There, Loretta joined the Fun and Fancy Theatre group, where she was the lead dancer in many performances. The group also performed in nursing homes, with over 100 performances per year. There, at Our Lady of Grace, she typed the church bulletin and counted church donations for 20 years. After 61 years of marriage, Matt died in 2007. Shortly after that, she moved to Kent Island to live with daughter Rebecca, son-in-law Paul, and grandson Vincent in Stevensville. She became active in the American Rosie the Riveter Association, which recognizes women who worked on the home front in the war industries during World War II. These women are “Rosies,” named after “Rosie the Riveter.” Their daughters are “Rosettes” and their husbands and sons are “Rivets.” Reporter Doug Bishop of the Bay Times revealed Loretta’s “Rosie” deeds in several published articles: “’Bomb Girl’ made hand grenades: Loretta Paytash remembers WWII munitions work” (January 10, 2013, cover page Bay Times) and “Heritage Society hosts Rosie the Riveter show” (March 27, 2017, page 17). Loretta was also recognized in Chapter 70 (“Loretta Made Hand Grenades”) of Rosie the Riveter Stories: How They Did It!, American Rosie the Riveter Association, 2016. In recent years, “Rosie” would notice veterans wearing WW II caps and they would exchange war stories. One veteran exclaimed to her, “You made ‘em and I threw ‘em!” Loretta was a member of Catholic Daughters in Silver Spring and a parishioner at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church in Chester, MD. She prayed daily, and enjoyed reading about how ordinary citizens and “the greatest generation” coped with WW II. She is survived by Rebecca and family; Deborah and family; and numerous relatives. A viewing will be held on March 20, 2017, from 10 a.m. -11 a.m. with a service beginning at 11 a.m. at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Chester, MD, and Interment will be at 2 p.m. at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, MD, next to her beloved, Matthew. Donations can be made to Compass Regional Hospice Inc., 255 Comet Drive, Centreville, MD 21617.

Loretta M. Paytash

December 15, 1921 - March 16, 2017