Oswald, Martha Marianna Duerksen (1920-2006)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 May 8 p. 11

Birth date: 1920

text of obituary:

MARTHA OSWALD

Martha Marianna (Duerksen) Oswald, 86, of Glendale, Ariz., died April 2, 2006.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in religious education at Hesston (Kan.) College in 1952, and she worked as a secretary for years. Upon retiring at Glencroft, she became an active volunteer in various campus activities, was a part-time secretary for her husband and devoted much time to quilting. She loved reading and playing Scrabble. She derived much meaning from her membership at Trinity Mennonite Church.

She worked hard but took time to notice the little things that add meaning to life: the hummingbirds whizzing by, the Arizona wildflowers, the brightness of the morning star, the smell of a pine forest. She loved the outdoors and spent many happy hours hiking and camping with her husband and daughter throughout the western United States. Her optimistic attitude about life was with her until her last month, when she was in the hospital three times.

Survivors include her husband of 52 years, Evan Oswald, of Glendale; a daughter, Sylvia Beneze and her husband, Geoff, of Tempe; two sisters, Marie Kleinsasser of Glendale and Ruth Schmidt of Ontario; a brother, John Duerksen of Hesston, Kan.; and two grandchildren.

Memorial services were held at the Glencroft Retirement Community auditorium. Her ashes are in the Trinity Mennonite Church columbarium in Glendale.