Lytle, Mary Virginia Perkins, 1883-1970

Midwife Mary Virginia Perkins Lytle was born on June 21, 1883, in Overton, Nevada, a community that would become her life-long home. In 1904 she married John Lytle. Their daughter Genevieve was the first child born in Las Vegas, Nevada. After suffering the loss of her first three children, Lytle realized the need for a doctor or nurse in the isolated Southern Nevada region. She traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, and trained in obstetrics. After graduating in 1909, Lytle returned to Overton, where she delivered babies for more than thirty years and never lost a child she delivered. She died on April 13, 1970.