Mary Ann Martella

Mary Ann Martella, 92, of Airway Heights, WA, left us peacefully on September 15^th surrounded by family.  At her core, Mary Ann was a North Dakota farm girl who was not afraid of hard work and always saw the best in people.

Born in October of 1932, Mary Ann was one of eleven children born to Alice and Frank Miller.  Growing up in a one-room sod house until her early teens, Mary Ann was shaped by growing up on the farm: sharing a bed with her sisters; hand pumping water up from the well; stoking the fire in a cast iron stove in the morning to thaw a bucket of water; her Dad hitching the horses to the sleigh to give everyone a ride to school; watching as electricity first arrived to their rural area; getting the single light bulb that hung in the center of the house; having a large garden with lots of rows to hoe.

As a youth Mary Ann enjoyed riding the cows and pigs, eating kohlrabi, dancing the waltz and the polka, playing cards and working on puzzles.  After graduating high school, she received her teaching certificate and taught all grades in a one-room schoolhouse.  She followed a brother to San Diego, CA, finding work with General Dynamics managing blueprints for Minuteman missiles. Eventually she accepted a transfer to work at Fairchild Air Force Base in WA state and met her husband, Joseph, at a Shell gas station.

As an adult, Mary Ann enjoyed bowling, playing softball, lunching with friends, volunteering at the gift shop in Sacred Heart Hospital, sitting with and holding premature babies, and attending Catholic services at Saint Michaels in Reardan, WA.

Mary Ann’s greatest joy was her family; being a wife, mother and grandmother.  She raised a husband and children: Nancy, Nick, and Steve.  Mary Ann cooked and baked from scratch; was a Boy Scout and Brownies leader; coached T-Ball; worked as a teacher’s aid and playground monitor at Sunset Elementary; learned to downhill ski with her children; attended almost every baseball, basketball, football, and volleyball game; supported violin, guitar, and accordion lessons; and continued this unlimited support of her grown children, their spouses and grandchildren.  

In their retirement, Mary Ann and Joseph enjoyed traveling to places like Palm Desert, China, Panama, and Alaska.

Mary Ann was a stoic, introverted, German farm girl who ironically became far more conversational once dementia set in, then she truly spoke her mind! 

We love you, mom!

A public memorial service will be held Saturday October 18^th  at 1pm,

followed by a reception from 2-4pm.

Heritage Funeral and Cremation 508 N Government Way, Spokane, WA 99224