In Loving Memory

Martha Eveleth

On Jan. 8, 1944, a little girl Martha was born to John and Katie Ann Miller. She and her 7 siblings grew up in Holmes County, Ohio. They enjoyed a lot of good times with their pony and cart that someone had gifted them. Martha's family attended the Amish church until she was 10 years old, when they joined the Mennonite church. As a teen, Martha and her Sunday school class of 5 girls formed a close friendship and kept in contact for the rest of their lives.

In 1964, a young man from Oregon came to Ohio for 1-W service. Martha's brother Moe befriended him, and invited Clayton to join the youth group in passing out Gospel tracts one Sunday. When Clayton got out of the car at the first street corner, Moe told his sister, "Go with him!" and that was just the beginning. On April 18, 1965, Clayton and Martha had their first date, and on July 30, 1966, they were married. After their honeymoon, they started their journey to their new home in Oregon's Willamette Valley. At the IL state line, Martha wanted to stop for a photo, since this was the farthest west, she had ever been.

Their happiness overflowed when Timothy Duane joined their home, later followed by Brian Lynn, Melody Rose, Katherine Sue, and Jonathan Lee.

Clayton and Martha were a part of the Tangent Mennonite Church and threw themselves into church life, enjoying many good times with their church friends. Martha cleaned the church house for many years and served on the church's sewing and food committees many times. They helped on building projects including missions in Idaho and Belize, where Martha spent hours doing laundry and making food for the workers.

1992 was a monumental year when the family moved to Chewelah, Washington to help a new church that was starting. As a small church in a new area, a lot of visitors came through and it was not uncommon for Martha to prepare a meal or lodging for someone with little notice ahead of time. Martha thought groceries in Washington must be a lot more expensive than in Oregon, until she counted up how many meals, she had served to guests recently.

As Martha grew older, her health declined. She experienced a lot of pain and had 7 major surgeries. She enjoyed when she felt well enough to go to church or visit her family and loved to have visitors. She spent many hours in her recliner listening to singing and the Bible on audio as her eyesight declined. She prayed for her children and grandchildren every day. In the last year, she talked often of her wish to be released from her pain to go to heaven, especially as her pain increased greatly and her kidneys were failing. On the evening of Sept 28, 2023, God granted her wish, and she passed away peacefully in her sleep with Clayton by her side.

She was preceded in death by her parents John and Katie Ann, and siblings Ray, Mary, and infant sister Catherine.

She is survived by her husband Clayton, her children Tim (Joyce), Brian (Carol), Melody (Tim Stoltzfus), Kathy (Mart Kauffman), and Jon (Marie), 29 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, 3 brothers, (Moe, Andy, and Wayne) and 2 sisters (Clara and Sue). The family wishes to thank everyone for their many prayers and acts of kindness to Martha over the last few years and to the family in the recent days.