Martha Elizabeth Worchel

Martha Elizabeth McDonald Worchel passed away peacefully on January 9, 2023, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She was born on August 27, 1948, at the old St. David’s Hospital in Austin, Texas. Martha spent her early childhood in both Houston, TX where her father worked as an economist at Humble Oil, and later in Baton Rouge, LA where her father served as a professor in the Department of Finance at Louisiana State University. In the fall of 1961, Martha and her family returned to Austin for good when her father accepted an economics professorship at the University of Texas.

Martha grew up in the Northwest Hills area of Austin and attended both Lamar Middle School and McCallum High School. At McCallum, Martha excelled academically and was a member of the Blue Brigade. It was at McCallum that Martha would meet her future husband, Harvey Worchel, and her life-long best friend, Ann Fryer Miller.

After graduating from McCallum High School in 1966, Martha attended the University of Texas at Austin where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, followed by a Master’s degree in Education. At UT, Martha was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Shortly after graduating from UT, Martha married her high school sweetheart, Harvey Worchel, and taught elementary school in both San Antonio and Houston while Harvey completed medical school and his surgery residency. After having her first child, Jenna Lee Worchel, in 1978, Martha stepped away from teaching to become a full-time mother. In 1980, she had her second child, Michael Louis Worchel. Martha had a passion and a gift for working with young children and being a mother and a grandmother were two of her greatest joys.

In addition to her love of working with young children, Martha enjoyed playing tennis, playing bridge, and hiking in Estes Park, Colorado. Martha was incredibly creative. She had a love for both art and music and was a talented artist as well as pianist. Her children have many fond memories of her playing the piano in their childhood home on Wilderness Drive in Westlake. Later in life, Martha enjoyed many peaceful years at her home near Hudson Bend with a beautiful view overlooking Lake Travis. She was a fierce environmentalist, contributing to many charities that support conservation and the preservation and protection of nature and animals.

Martha is survived by Harvey Worchel, her daughter, Jenna Holmes, her son-in-law, Craig Holmes, her grandsons, Carson and Cullen Holmes, her son, Michael Worchel and her cousin, Carol McCardell.

The family would like to express its heartfelt gratitude for the staff at Belmont Village in Westlake for their compassion and care over the past five years.

There will be a celebration of life at Remembrance Gardens at Riverbend on Sunday, January 29th at noon.