Verda Louise Martin was born May 7, 1933 in Friendship, Wisconsin to Harold and Elsie (Andersen) Pratt. She married Kenneth Martin Sr. in 1952. They were married for 47 years before he passed away in 1999. Their marriage was a true love story.
Verda owned a toy store on Broadway (Grandma’s Crafts and Toys) when her grandchildren were young and then a landscaping business. She spent her older adult years at the Sweet Pans Shoppe with the Wallschlaeger Family who were an extension of her own family. Her great-grandchildren loved to visit her in the shop and always get chocolate and candies “snuck” to them. She was full of love and life.
She had a passion for all things flowers and gardens. Early in her adult life she made and sold flower arrangements and just this year she made the bouquet for her granddaughter’s wedding. A weed was not safe if Verda was anywhere in the area. She would spend hours out in the yard every day, her family had to make her stop to eat and drink.
If you close your eyes and picture what a grandma would be you would see Verda: sledding with the kids, baking or cooking anything they wanted, sleepovers, sneaking you $20, playing games (spoons) and reading, letting you pick what you watched on TV while you cuddled together, and so many other things.
Verda passed away on Thursday, December 5th. She is survived by her sister, Judy Martin; her grandchildren, Tynisha (Cary) Clegg, Rebecca Dorris (Lawrence Wood Guardia), and Kenneth Martin III; her great-grandchildren, Chad (Veousha Mackenzie) Martin Jr., Makayla Clegg, Gretchen Poff, Chase Clegg, Izabelle Clegg and Nyla Clegg, Andrew Griffin, and Kenneth Martin V; and her great-great-grandchildren, Augustus Martin, Axel Fenick, and Rosalia Beaty.
Verda was preceded in death by her parents, her nine siblings, her husband, Kenneth Martin Sr.; her children, Jonie (Leon) Dorris, Kenneth (Merri Denise) Martin, and Paul Martin; her grandchildren, Andrew Hutsell, Kenneth Hutsell, and Chad Martin Sr.; and her great-grandchild, Kenneth Martin IV.
