Martha M. (Freerksen) Kraft

Martha Marie Freerksen Kraft, 88, of Kanawha passed away Tuesday, September 28, 1993 at the Kanawha Community Home in Kanawha, Iowa.

Martha was born January 8, 1905 on a farm near Kanawha the daughter of Freerk and Elizabeth (Gatena) Freerksen.  She was baptized in the Christian Reformed Church.  She was united in marriage with Carol Kraft of Renwick, Iowa on March 12, 1929.  They made their home on a farm northeast of Renwick, Iowa until a short time before her husband passed away at which time she moved to Kanawha.  Martha entered the Kanawha Community Home in June of 1991.

Martha was a member of St. Johns Lutheran Church in Corwith, where she was very active in the Sunday School Program and served as superintendent as well as the organist for the Sunday School.  She later transferred her membership to the Kanawha Lutheran Church and was also a member of the Kanawha Lutheran Women.  She enjoyed gardening, sewing, sports and especially her family and grandchildren.

She is survived by two daughters: Marlyn and her husband, Bernie Mesenbrink of Ames, Iowa; Janice and husband Perry Uhl of Vermilion, South Dakota; two sons: Carl (Bud) and his wife, Lois Kraft of Renwick, Iowa; Robert and his wife, Pat of Kanawha, Iowa; nine grandchildren: Paul Kraft, Kathy Dobbs, Julie Zimmerman, Susan Myers, Deborah Reisner, David Uhl, Barb Leichtnam, Jim Kraft, Kevin Kraft and two step-grandchildren: Mike Mesenbrink and B.J. Moore, 15 great-grandchildren; two sisters: Minne May of Des Moines, Iowa; Clara Amsbough of Charles City, Iowa; a sister-in-law Marjorie Kraft of Renwick, Iowa and many nieces and nephews.

Martha was preceded in death by her husband Carl who passed away in 1989, her parents, two sisters: Tillie Nieman and Marie Shelton and one brother, George Freerksen.