Gertrude Lillian Leto was born February 19, 1925, at Barnert Memorial Hospital, Patterson, New Jersey to Julia Toone Motter and Charles Maxmillian Motter. She has one older sister, Beatrice Crean, who lives in Randolph, New Jersey. Gertrude grew up on a farm in Baskingridge, New Jersey. She graduated from Morristown High School, in Morristown, New Jersey. She married Frank Leto, Sr., July 24, 1943, in Bennettsville, South Carolina. They lived in Patterson, New Jersey, for a short time and then moved to their own farm in Morris Plains, New Jersey. She had two children, Frank Leto, Jr., and Wanda Ann Leto Maxwell (husband Clay Maxwell). She has four grandchildren, Laura Leto Rivera (husband Ramiro Rivera), Tan Leto Poole (husband Mark Poole), Derek Leto, and Frank Leto III. She has two great grandchildren, Lillyana Rivera and Riseuno Rivera.

Gertrude was a hard worker. She took the train everyday from Morris Plains to Madison to work as a bookkeeper/keypunch operator at a bank. In the meantime, Frank Sr. worked the farm and cared for their children. Every evening, Gertrude returned home, and took over the farming and child raising chores while Frank went to work the nightshift at a factory. Gertrude loved farming and flowers. Unfortunately, in 1988, Frank Sr. became ill, and Clay and Wanda convinced them to move down with them to Gainesville, Florida.

In 1992, Frank Sr. passed away and is buried at Forest Meadows cemetery in Gainesville, FL. A few years later in 1997, Gertrude moved to Washington state to live on a farm with her son, Frank, Jr. She loved farming, but when she fell ill in 2003, she moved back to Florida to live with Clay and Wanda again until her death. Gertrude died on April 11, 2012 at Brookside Hospice House in Palm Harbor, Florida. She was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. She will join her beloved husband, Frank Sr., at Forest Meadows cemetery in Gainesville, Florida, April 18, 2012.