MARTIN, Eleanor May

Eleanor May Martin, 99, of Holdrege died Thursday, December 23, 2010, at Holdrege Memorial Home in Holdrege. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, December 27th at the First United Methodist Church in Holdrege with the Rev. Dale Lambert officiating. Burial will be at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Holdrege. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. at the church. Layton-Craig Funeral Home in Minden is in charge of arrangements. Eleanor was born on May 21, 1911, in Lowell, Nebraska, to Curtis and Amy Inez (Gormly) Marlatt. On March 25, 1933, she married RL Martin at her parents' home in Kearney County. Survivors include two daughters, Gwenda Nell (Olson) Harden and her husband, Robert, of Holdrege and Ginger Petersen and her husband, Jim, of Johnson Lake; two sons, James Martin and his wife, Elaine, of Lincoln and Alton “Tony” Martin and his wife, Carol, of Denver; 11 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; three great-great grandchildren; and two sister-in-laws, Marcella Marlatt of Kearney and Lucy Hill of Oklahoma. She is preceded in death by her husband, RL, and granddaughter, Teresa Sue Olson; two brothers, John Marlatt and his wife, Ethel, and Dwight Marlatt. She grew up in the Lowell area and attended Newark School to the 10th grade and then graduated from Kearney High School in 1930. After her marriage, she and her husband started farming northwest of Minden in 1944 and retired in 1975. They moved to Axtell in 1991. RL died in 2000, and Eleanor moved to Holdrege in 2003. Eleanor and RL enjoyed 20 years of “snow birding” in Alamo, Texas. She was an accomplished pianist and had taught piano lessons for many years. She was a 4-H leader, enjoyed gardening, canning, baking, quilting and fancy work. Most of all she enjoyed being with her family. She was preceded in death by her husband, RL, and granddaughter, Teresa Sue Olson; two brothers, John Marlatt and his wife, Ethel, and Dwight Marlatt. Memorials are suggested to the Holdrege Memorial Home or the donor's choice.