Family, friends celebrate the life of Leta Powell Drake Saturday

Local T.V. legend passed away September 15

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Friends and family gathered Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Community Playhouse to celebrate the life of Leta Powell Drake.  She passed away September 15 at 83-years-old.

Leta was a Nebraska legend in the broadcasting industry and was fondly remembered by many as Kalamity Kate on Cartoon Corral, among many of her other television, movie, and radio projects.

She also stayed busy performing in local theatre productions. She hosted shows on the city cable channel and worked for the Salvation Army.

The Celebration of Life retells the story of Leta’s life from her youth, theatre, television, and community service with singing, performances and speakers.

“I think the biggest impact she made was showcasing Nebraska, Lincoln and our community. Whether these were young boys and girls coming to be on “Cartoon Corral,” celebrating their birthday, being on T.V. for their first time and getting their 15 minutes of fame. Maybe it was for the barbershop quartet, the local swing choir or someone coming in on the morning show and being able to show off what they do. Even bringing in national talents who were in movies and T.V. shows, then bringing them to Lincoln to connect to the local community. She did things her way, but she really had to drive that forward because she worked in, what was historically a male-dominated career, where very few women had the opportunity to do what she did. So, she forged ahead and was a real trailblazer,” said Aaron Drake, Leta’s son.

Leta was honored by UNL in August where she was given an honorary doctorate of humane letters during graduation ceremonies.