Martha Johanna Bartz died on Feb. 17, at Dove Healthcare in Eau Claire, Wis., at the age of 92.
Her victory service will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church, 2015 N. Hastings Way, Eau Claire, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, with visitation the hour before the service. Pastors Paul Tiefel and Bruce Naumann will officiate.
Martha was born on Oct. 17, 1917, at home in rural Suring, Wis., the daughter of John H. and Susan (nee Hernlem) Bartz. Martha was baptized into the Christian faith on Oct. 28, 1917, by Pastor Andrew Plass of St. John Ev. Lutheran Church in Hayes, Wis. She was later confirmed in her Christian faith at St. John on April 26, 1931. Her confirmation verse was John 6:68-69. Martha attended Linzy Brook School and St. John Lutheran Grade School before spending her freshman high school year at Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn. The economics of the Depression required Martha to return home, and she was graduated from Suring Public High School on May 22, 1936.
For a short time after her graduation, Martha worked in the kitchen of an orphanage near Chicago, but then she moved to Red Wing, Minn., to live near her maternal grandmother and work for her uncle and aunt at Quandt’s Food Shoppe. After nearly 15 years, she left Quandt’s to begin employment at the Carnegie-Lawther Public Library. Martha later entered the Red Wing Area Practical Nursing Program offered by St. John’s Hospital and was graduated in 1966 as a Licensed Practical Nurse. She worked at St. John’s Hospital until her retirement.
After her retirement, Martha provided home health care for her landlady, Mrs. L.E. Claydon. In 1988, she moved to Eau Claire where she resided until her death.
Martha enjoyed cooking, reading, and visiting with family and friends. She was soft-spoken, faithful, and caring in her relationships. She was a strong Christian and an active member of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in Red Wing and of Messiah Lutheran Church in Eau Claire. Perhaps because she did not have a husband and children of her own, there was extra room in Martha’s heart for her siblings, her nieces and nephew and their children, and her extended family. She was on hand to be a help and comfort at the time of her brother Conrad’s death as well as at the time of death of both her sisters. In many ways, she was a mother and grandmother to her nieces and nephew and their children. Martha will be remembered by her nephew and nieces and her other relatives and friends as a dear and gracious woman who lived her faith.
Martha was preceded in death by parents, John and Susan Bartz; brothers, Conrad and Marcus; sisters, Irma and Eva; and two brothers who died shortly after birth.
She is survived by nieces, Linda Alexander, Janet Pagels, Ruth Ahrens, Susan Lentz, and Beth Kranz; nephew, Paul Nolting; numerous cousins; and many friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given for some aspect of the work of the Kingdom.
Friends may offer condolences online at www.fullerspeckien.com. Fuller Speckien Hulke Funeral Home, 3209 Rudolph Road, Eau Claire, is assisting the family with the arrangements.
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