Ava Lee Lutteman

Ava Lee Darnielle was born at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise to Edna Lee and Arley Darneille of Gardena, Idaho. Her early childhood was spent at the Gardena post office and mercantile on the Payette River, which her family owned and operated and where they also lived.

Ava followed her older brother Aubrey on his trapline and learned to fish. She rode a horse to attend grades first through eighth in a one room schoolhouse, near Horseshoe Bend.

Her parents divorced and each remarried. Ava’s mother married Web Appel, a local aviator. He also owned Sulphur Creek Ranch, where they hosted hunters and fishermen. She spent several summers packing in from Whiskey Creek out of Landmark.

Later, they sold the ranch and purchased the Deadwood Mine to host miners, firefighters, fishers and hunters at the lodge.

She attended North Junior High in Boise and graduated from Boise High School in 1952. She learned shorthand, which led to a job for the Crippled Children's Service, touring the state for clinics to understand the cause of birth defects in Idaho.

She married Leo Sommer in 1954. To this marriage was born Timothy, Andrew, Samuel, and Christine. Leo and Ava divorced in 1967.

Ava married Otto Lutteman in 1969 and they had a daughter, Johanna.

Ava graduated with a Nursing degree from Boise State University in 1971. She worked at the Caldwell Memorial Hospital and then cared for psychiatric patients at the Idaho State Hospital in Nampa. She then made a significant contribution to public health in Idaho, working at the Capitol Building.

Later in her professional life, Ava traveled the state as a home health nurse. Her last home visit was in 2011, concluding a more than 40 year career in healthcare.

Ava pursued many interests in retirement, which she shared with her family. She picked up the fiddle and joined the Idaho Old Time Fiddlers. She enjoyed birding, kayaking and canoeing. She grew a large garden, and made bread and cheese from scratch. Her farm was home to a variety of animals, including turkeys, chickens, peacocks, doves, cats, dogs, sheep, raccoons, badgers, owls, and geese.

Ava wove rag rugs and tea towels. She also enjoyed knitting and crochet. She raised sheep and processed their wool into yarn. She loved telling stories from the back country, visiting with family, and strumming to music from her younger years while she rocked in her rocking chair.

Ava is preceded in death by her mother, Edna Lee Appel; father, Arley Darnielle; brother Aubrey Darnielle; husband, Otto Lutteman; daughter Mary Jane Lutteman.

She is survived by her children, Tim Sommer (Tamara Sloviaczek), Andy Sommer (Kathy), Sam Sommer (Shannon), Chris Wolfe (Jake), Johanna Younger (Cy), many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

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Flowers can be sent to Flahiff Funeral Chapel in Caldwell. Donations can be made to the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Festival and Contest in Weiser, https://www.fiddlecontest.org/, or to Stickerville, https://www.stickervillefiddle.org/donate, a nonprofit dedicated to music education and community in Weiser, ID.

A viewing will be held at Flahiff Funeral Chapel in Caldwell on Monday, May 18, 2026, 5 to 8 pm. There will be a graveside service at Middleton Cemetery on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 10 am.