Twila A. Bartlett; Retired Journalist

Twila A. Bartlett, longtime California journalist and former associate managing editor of the Antelope Valley Press, has died at a Lancaster hospital. She was 80.

A longtime Pearblossom resident, Mrs. Bartlett died Sunday of complications from a stroke, said her cousin, Warren Gale.

Born near Wichita, Kan., she served as a general’s secretary in the Women’s Army Corps in Africa during World War II. After she was discharged, she came to California where she and her late husband, Charles Bartlett, wrote and produced a radio show in Sacramento.

A journalism graduate of Columbia University, Mrs. Bartlett also worked for the Sacramento Bee. In 1964, Mrs. Bartlett moved to Lake Isabella where she worked as a reporter and photographer for the Bakersfield Californian.

Four years later, she was hired by the Antelope Valley Press, where she spent 13 years, serving as associate managing editor, religion editor and feature writer until her retirement in December, 1981.

Mrs. Bartlett served on the Antelope Valley Water Commission, as an officer of the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce and as a lector and Eucharistic minister in Littlerock.

Visitation is planned from 4 to 8 p.m. today, with a vigil at 7 p.m., both at Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel, 3150 E. Palmdale Blvd. in Palmdale, which is handling the arrangements. A funeral Mass, with burial to follow, is scheduled for noon Friday at St. Andrew’s Priory, 31001 Valyermo Road in Valyermo.

Donations can be made in Mrs. Bartlett’s name to St. Andrew’s Priory.