For a family photo, Luetta Burnham is joined by her five grandchildren, from left, Rachel, Emily, Ian, Luetta, Erica, and Anna (standing).

Photo courtesy of Burnham family

CRANSTON — Luetta Burnham lived alone, not too far from one of her sons, but she was one of those people who wanted to keep her independence.

She hated the thought of moving to a nursing home, and she had plenty of things to keep her busy — gardening, reading, spending time with her cat and playing cards, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone.

“I guess there are a thousand ways to play solitaire,” said her son, Mark Burnham, “and she knew half of them.”

Luetta Burnham, 87, also smoked, and her son and the police believe she may have gone out to buy cigarettes Thursday evening when she was struck by a car on a busy, six-lane stretch of Reservoir Avenue.

According to the police, Burnham was crossing from the east side of the road at about 4:48 p.m. and may have been headed to a pharmacy. She was struck in the center northbound lane and was later pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital.

The police have not charged the driver, who they did not identify, and the accident is still under investigation, said Maj. Ronald T. Blackmar.

Burnham had recently moved to the Garden City Apartments, just a stone’s throw away from the accident scene, but for most of her time in Rhode Island she had lived at the Villa Del Rio apartments, in Warwick. She and her husband, Chilo, moved to Rhode Island from Pennsylvania in November 1992, thinking it would be better for her to be closer to Mark as Chilo’s health was failing. A week after the move, Chilo died.

As the Pennsylvania native began her life in Rhode Island, she maintained her independence.

She loved seeing her grandchildren — Mark and his wife, Janet, have three daughters, Emily, Rachel and Anna — but her interests kept her busy. She read “light mystery novels” and books on 20th-century history. She did crossword puzzles. She played with Maggie, a gray-and-white tiger cat who Mark says was her “best buddy.” She also loved gardening. Each year she would claim a little more space outside her Warwick apartment for her plants and flowers.

Until about a year ago, she played the piano, often hymns she had learned in church. She was a Baptist — her husband had been the director of communications for the Pittsburgh Baptist Association for 25 years — but she no longer attended church after moving to Rhode Island, her son said. He attributed the change to her more laid-back lifestyle.

“I don’t think she lost her faith,” he said.

Luetta and Chilo had met in Chicago following World War II, during which Chilo had served in the Navy. They lived in North Dakota, where he had grown up, for about five years, and then moved to western Pennsylvania, where she had grown up. There, they raised Mark and their other son, Paul, who lives in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada.

Luetta Burnham moved to the Garden City Apartments, just a couple of blocks from Mark and Janet’s house, in June.

Her health was no longer good, her son said. She had stopped driving more than a year before, and she also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which made it hard for her to breathe.

Mark had become a chaperone of sorts, taking her to the store and out to eat each week, though sometimes his daughters helped.

One thing her son did not want to do for her on Thursday, given her breathing problems, was buy cigarettes.

“Since I wasn’t interested in getting her cigarettes, she decided to get them on her own,” he said.

It was dark when she was trying to cross the road, and with a light rain, the conditions were not ideal, Blackmar said.

One of the highlights of her time in Rhode Island came last year, when she attended the wedding of Mark and Janet’s oldest daughter, Emily. The wedding was held at the Church of the Transfiguration, on Broad Street, followed by a reception at Roger Williams Park, in Providence.

The family plans to hold a private service at Swan Point Cemetery, in Providence, and is also planning a memorial gathering next summer.

redgar@projo.com