Martha Massengale

Middleton - Martha (Goodwin) Massengale, age 80, died peacefully, so peacefully, on Sunday, September 6, 2015.

Martha was born on October 8, 1934, in Omaha, NE which would be her hometown for the next 75 years. A graduate of Central High School and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, she returned to UNO in the1980's to earn a second degree in accounting. Martha and her husband, Bill, married on November 8, 1958, and raised three wonderful daughters together.

Martha lived a life of quiet strength and dignity. Working at the Y.W.C.A. allowed Martha to integrate her skills with her passion for education, gender equity, and politics. She delighted in nature, tending her flower gardens and backyard birds. Martha was an avid reader, an enthusiastic travel companion, and a lover of tea parties and musical theater. She was an artist with a needle and thread, always a sewing, quilting, or cross-stitching project in the works.

Martha's deep faith and love of her family were the threads that ran through life and sustained her. She was an active member of First Baptist Church, Sunset Hills Baptist Church, and First Presbyterian Church, all in Omaha, NE. She utterly adored her grandchildren.

It was these gifts of strength and dignity, faith and family that carried her through ten years of living with Alzheimer's Disease. Martha and her family would like to thank the caregiving teams at Brookdale of Middleton and Agrace Hospice for the past six years of compassionate care and friendship so freely shared with Martha, and the many kindnesses extended to each of us.

Martha will live on in the hearts of her daughters and sons-in-law: Kim and Chuck Kaspar, Robin and Pat Kelly, Ann and Allen Hagrman; her six grandchildren: Chris and Brooke Kelly, Emma and Andrew Hagrman, Maya and Celeste Kaspar. She will be deeply missed by her sisters and brothers-in-law, Darlene and Joseph Anderson, Charlene and James McWilliams; and dear nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws. Martha was well loved by her husband, William Massengale; and parents, Charles and Rose Goodwin who proceeded her in death.

A family inurnment service will be held at Forest Lawn Cemetery, in Omaha, NE. A service of remembrance and celebration will be held at First Baptist Church, 421 Park Ave, Omaha NE on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 11:00am. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer's and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, 517 N. Segoe Rd, Suite 301, Madison, WI 53705

Cress Funeral Home
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
(608) 238-3434