Lois J. Little

Lois Joy Little, (née Tuttle), 79, passed away with her family at her bedside, on April 16, 2021, following a long battle with cancer. She was 2-months shy of her 80th birthday. 

Born June 16, 1941 in New Jersey, she was the daughter of a respected inventor in the printing field and a former New York City secretary. “Loey,” as she was called by her parents, was an energetic and fun-loving child with a deep love for animals and a passion for art and music. 

The eldest of three sisters, she had an idyllic childhood in a home filled with many pets, including a baby alligator.   Her mother led her Girl Scout troop, she took riding lessons, and she and her sisters spent summers with her Grandparents on the Jersey shore.  Much of her free time was spent painting — a talent that her parents nurtured throughout her youth. She was the art editor of her High School paper, and sang and played guitar with a girls "Trio", which recorded two albums.

As an adult, Lois accomplished a great deal with her many gifts, studying Art at The College at Wooster in Ohio, where she met her husband Frank.   

Though they lived near New York at the time of their marriage, Lois ignored the many opportunities of pursuing her passion, instead choosing to dedicate herself to raising her family.  Nonetheless, she later painted many beautiful portraits of her children, grandchildren and the family’s prized show horses. She also created the logo for the Missouri Foxtrotting Horse Breed Association that is in use even now, some 40 years later.  

Her talents were also used as a Brownie Girl Scout Leader, where she created a life-sized talking tree for use in the first Earth Day celebration. She voluntarily provided many illustrations to school and civic group publications, made phenomenal Halloween costumes for her children, and an amazing cow costume, complete with moving eyes and tongue that performed on stage and at nursing homes in St. Louis County.

Lois was an accomplished vocalist and in the mid-1970’s, was a founding member of the River Blenders, a Sweet Adelines group based in Chesterfield, Missouri that went on to win a national championship and still performs regularly at large venues across the U.S.. She played the guitar, piano, accordion, and dulcimer, but could play nearly any instrument she chose to pick up.

After her children were older, she and Frank relocated to a ranch outside Stanton, MO. There, Lois was very fortunate to devote many years to one of her first loves: horses. She built and operated Valley View Ranch from the ground up; a Breeding & Training Ranch in Stanton, Missouri, engaged in the showing of Missouri Foxtrotter horses.  

Her and Frank’s ranch produced a World Champion, a Reserve World Grand Champion and many other very successful horses over its 30+ years of operation.  At its high point it boasted a large riding barn and more than 50 head of Foxtrotters in various stages of rearing, training and showing. She was blessed to have many wonderful friends in the area during this time.

Horses were also the inspiration for many of Lois’s paintings, including her amazing depiction of the ranch’s namesake, “Valley View,” featuring several generations of show horses together in pasture at various stages of their lives, (including both the World Champion and the World Reserve Grand Champion, along with the famed mare that foaled the ranch’s two famous stallions), among others.   Likewise, her paintings of Valley View’s two champion studs grace a wall in the family’s library, leaving every guest who has visited the home in complete awe. 

Lois and Frank enjoyed many wonderful adventures during their marriage.  They were fortunate enough to travel the world, seeing Australia, Hawaii, Canada and Europe.  Lois had worked on getting her pilot’s license and Frank had his.  Together they were able to make the trip of a lifetime, flying the Alaskan Range in their Maul Bush Plane.  They enjoyed condos in Florida, Lake of the Ozarks, and Arizona, but to Lois, there was no place like home. She most enjoyed a quiet, down-to-earth life with her family and horses.   To her children, Lois was an amazing mother, who sacrificed what would surely have been a very lucrative career as a famed painter, in order to be known simply as “Mom” to those who loved her.  

Lois is survived by her husband of nearly fifty-nine years, Franklyn Little, of Sullivan; one daughter, Shelley Needham and husband, Phil, of Freeman, MO; one son, William Little and wife, Beth, of Sullivan, MO; seven grandchildren: Jonah, Meredith and Gwyneth Little, and Angel, David, Thomas and Zeke Needham; two sisters, Wendy Pokorny of NJ, and Linda Thornburg and husband, Steve, of CA; as well as other extended relatives and many, many friends. 

Lois was preceded in death by one daughter, Laura Wohlstadter; her parents, Douglas and Evelyn Tuttle; two brothers-in-law, Vince Jestice and Andrew Pokorny; and one sister-in-law, Karol Little. 

The family will be hosting a small, private celebration of life at a later date. 

Friends may send online condolences to Lois’ family at www.eatonfuneralhome.com.

All arrangements were under the care of the Eaton Funeral Home and Cremation Center of Sullivan.