Martha Brockton

Martha Brockton, age 91, died November 8, 2013, at Mercy Medical Center. She was born to Anna (Witt) and Otto Christensen March 1, 1922 in Detroit, Michigan.

Writing poems and stories and playing on the swing in the yard were her favorite pastimes. Summers were spent with her sister on the farm and with Aunt Milly in Marion Springs, where she picked pickles, helped with laundry, stocked shelves at the store, cut cheese and pumped gas. Evenings were spent playing with cousins.

Martha graduated high school and attended business school. She married George Brockton September 25, 1943, at Epiphany Lutheran Church where she was also baptized and confirmed. With George being in the Navy, she followed him to many states and found work as a secretary, the most memorable job being at a shipyard in California where she saw a Liberty ship launched.

Three children came after the war and she became a homemaker. Her pleasures were bingo and bowling, but she loved music and could play the organ, guitar, accordion and other instruments.

When George retired, a lakeside home was bought, and being Danish, she loved the water and spent many hours with family floating and swimming in the lake. George died and she stayed at the lake for almost 20 years more before her health declined and she moved to Des Moines to live with her daughter Barbara and son-in-law Robert Lawrence.

Left to cherish her memory are her children Barbara (Robert) Lawrence and Larry (Alicia Owens) Brockton, her grandchildren Christopher (Laura) Lawrence and Deanne (Matt) Kaminski, her sister Eleanor Crandall, and nephew Ted Crandall. She was preceded in death by her husband George and son George R. Brockton.

Visitation will be Wednesday, November 13, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Hamilton’s near Highland Memory Gardens, 121 NW 60th Avenue, Des Moines. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, November 14, at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 4003 2nd Avenue, Des Moines. Burial will be 1:00 p.m., Saturday, November 16, at Marion Twp. Cemetery, Marion Springs, Michigan.

Condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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