Elizabeth "Becky" A Itts

Elizabeth A. “ Becky” Itts, 95 of Boardman, passed away Sunday, June 18,2023, at her

residence

Born May 11, 1928 in Columbus, Ohio, Elizabeth was the daughter of Dalton and Clara

(Beck) Dunham.

She was a graduate of Cardington High School in 1946 and attended St. Mary the Springs

(now Ohio Dominican College) a finishing school her freshman year and then transferred

to Ohio State to pursue a degree in Architecture, however with the GI bill and being a

woman she was told she could not obtain a degree in architecture so she decided on a

Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree in Interior Design and she was able to persuade OSU into

allowing her to take mechanical drawing which gave her the tools to help with the

blueprint designs on her 2 contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright inspired homes in

Canfield.

In 1977 she worked as a graduate assistant while completing her Masters Degree in

Psychology and upon completion became the Director of the Career Development Center

for Women at the YWCA.

She then moved on to working at the YSU Alumni Department where she worked on

fund raisers and was instrumental in having the Harlem Globe Trotters come to YSU

She later became an accomplished Grant writer

She worked at the Kent State Salem branch as a Career Counselor, mentoring and

changing the lives of countless women and men, a characteristic that followed her the

rest of her life.

She was born in Columbus and lived on Gay Street downtown where her father was a real

estate broker and was working on a beautiful park when the stock market crashed in

1929.

Losing everything her father moved them to Cardington Ohio where he built back his real

estate business with land contracts. He and his brother built the Stone Cardington Post Office and had their Dunham Realty office upstairs and her mother worked the counter. During the depression he taught at Wright Patterson

Air force Base and worked for the government in Cleveland and at one point was asked

by the Pentagon to work for them but he declined.

Her father always treated her as an equal and told her that it was her duty to make a

difference and that she needed to step up to the plate and do her civic duty which she did

becoming a political activist to preserve the integrity of the Canfield Community through

being instrumental in the recalling of a former mayor and bringing referendums.

Becky belonged to the Junior Women’s League where she was one of the masterminds

being starting the Fourth of July celebration in Canfield Ohio.

She belonged to St. Michaels Altar Rosary Society, The Chesterton Club, the Bent Twig

Garden Club, Bridge Club, WESSO ( West Side South Side Organization of dentists and

spouses) Spousal Volunteer in the Cordyn Palmer Dental Society helping with dances

and their variety shows, one time doing a Phyllis Diller comedy sketch bringing down

house.

She along with other dental wives put on puppet shows for the schools for Children’s

Dental Health Month.

She started story time for the children at the Canfield Library with a friend.

Becky and Frank babysat their 2 local granddaughters Jocelyn and Melanie for over 12

years.

Their grandchildren gave them so much joy and she was so supportive, nurturing and

inspirational to all of her grandchildren and when her great grandchildren came along she

again was over the moon.

Elizabeth was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Frank Itts, whom she married June

23, 1951 and her brother John Dunham.

She leaves to her cherished memory, her children Cindy (Scott) Robbins of California,

Mark (Mary) Itts of Canfield, Deirdre (Eric) Jones of Cardington and Andrea and Bill of

Canfield: six grandchildren Kurt, Jocelyn, Melanie, Greg, Amy and Mark, and three great

grandchildren Catherine, Nathan and Remi.

The family will receive family and friends on Monday June 26 th , at Lane Funeral Homes,

Canfield Chapel, from 2:00-4:00PM, followed by a service at 4:00PM.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Canfield Library.

She will be buried next to her husband on Tuesday, June 27 th .