wfn.org | Former MBM secretary dies

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

May 9, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>
May 9, 2001

Mary Olive Martin, former MBM secretary dies

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM) – Mary Olive Martin who served Mennonite
Board of Missions as a secretary for 22 years, died April 24 at
Valley View Healthcare Center from complications related to a hip
fracture from a fall.  She was 85 years old.

Martin was born Aug. 1, 1915, to Amanda (Miller) and Wesley
Christophel of Elkhart.  She was a lifelong member of Prairie
Street Mennonite Church, baptized in April 1928.  After
graduating from high school, she attended Elkhart Business
College and worked for several Elkhart offices as secretary.  She
married Owen Martin in 1940.  He died in 1984.

In 1959, she began working as a secretary for MBM Home Missions.
In a post-retirement interview, she reported, “We had chapels
every day then, and each of us was expected to take a turn
leading them.  We secretaries didn’t like it, though, because we
just couldn’t match the seminary and preaching experience of many
of the administrators.”

Martin worked with many Home Missions directors, including Nelson
Kauffman, Simon Gingerich, Lupe DeLeon, John Powell and Edward
Taylor.  “They were all good bosses,” she said, “I enjoyed
working for all of them.”  Martin worked at MBM until she retired
on Dec. 31, 1980.

In a eulogy for Prairie Street Mennonite Church’s historical
records, former pastor Russell Krabill wrote:  “We will remember
Mary Olive as a woman of God, a concerned mother and grandmother,
and as a dear friend.”

Martin is survived by three sons: Wendell of Elkhart; John of
Sarasota, Fla.; and Millard, also of Sarasota; nine
grandchildren; seven great-grand children.  Her siblings, Ellen
Eby and Wendell Christophel, are deceased.

The funeral service was held April 28 at Prairie Street Mennonite
Church.  Martin was buried at Prairie Street Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be given to MBM.

* * *

Joni S. Sancken