Martha L. Brandes

(March 30, 2004)

Martha L. Brandes died Tuesday, March 30, in Bothell, Wash. She was 94.

Born in Lamona, Wash., on Nov. 1, 1909, she is survived by her son, John Brandes and his wife, Helen, of Powell; her daughter, Martha Ellsworth and her husband, Ray, of Tacoma, Wash.; her granddaughter, Leona Brandes Smith and her husband Garry Smith of Bothell; one sister, Ruth Koss of Everett, Wash., and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, the Rev. Conrad Hereth and Mrs. Martha Senne Hereth Luiten and four of her five sisters, Lydia Hereth, Esther Simpson, Lois Wisman and Marie Schatz, and two granddaughters, Donna Jean and Lynn Marie Franks.

She had wonderful memories of the years her family spent in Corvallis, Ore., while her father served Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and attended Oregon State University (1910 to 1918). She cherished her time traipsing across the campus through the fall leaves with her father while he practiced his sermons. She became a nurse, graduating from the School of Nursing, General Hospital of Everett in 1931. Her nursing assignments included several years at the Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood and at Ballard Hospital in Seattle, from which she retired in 1971.

She loved her family, baking pies, church activities and traveling. In 1974, she traveled to Scotland to visit her niece and in 1983, to Okinawa, Japan, to visit her granddaughter. She dearly loved flowers and was fascinated by botany and the miracle of God's creation. Martha was a resident of the Rocky Mountain Manor and member of Immanuel Lutheran Church here in Powell from 1997-2002. During her time in Wyoming, she grew to love the fiery sunsets she could see outside her window and became a beloved part of the Bessler family through her daughter-in-law, Helen Bessler Brandes. She gardened well past her 90th year and could still play songs she learned on the piano when she was a young girl, completed crossword puzzles up until recently, and loved to laugh. She was a lifelong Christian who worshiped in the Lutheran Church and everywhere she went. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 8 at 4 p.m., Zion Lutheran Church Snohomish, Wash.