Martha "Martie" English Hoadley

Martha (“Martie”) English Hoadley died on April 19, 2024, in Lansing, Michigan. She was 86. Martie was born on January 1, 1938, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to John Albert and Helen Virginia English Hoadley. Growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, Martie graduated from University High School on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. A lifelong learner, Martie later earned a Master of Arts degree in Community Education from Ball State University.

First and foremost, Martie devoted her life to her children; she deeply loved her children. Martie was an energetic, fun-loving, involved mother.

Outside of her work caring for her family, Martie taught preschool and third grade. She worked in development for the American Heart Association; as a rehabilitation counselor for the State of Indiana; and for Work First for the State of Michigan, helping women prepare to re-enter the work force.

Martie was a member of Des Moines United Methodist Church, Des Moines, Washington. Central to Martie’s life and identity was her United Methodist faith, which began in her childhood home. Martie’s United Methodist roots run deep and go back at least three generations. She found a church community wherever she went and was always deeply involved in its spiritual life and committee work. She took to heart the United Methodist tradition of social justice. She was always concerned about the wider world.

In her adult life, Martie was an active member of PEO, whose mission is to help women around the world advance through education.

Having met growing up in Bloomington, on August 24, 1958, Martie married Fred Andrews at the First United Methodist Church. Martie and Fred had four children, Deanne Elizabeth, Deborah Catherine, Lauralyn Hoadley, and Frederick John.

Martie was always on the move. In her married life to Fred, Martie moved a lot. They began their married life in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Fred was beginning his third year in medical school at Indiana University. They proceeded to move to Columbus, Indiana, where Fred began his general medical practice. Change would soon come, as Fred was drafted (with three young children and another soon on the way) to serve in the U.S. Army. They first moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After Fred was called to serve in Viet Nam, with her four children Martie moved back to Columbus, Indiana, to be closer to family. Nine months later after Fred returned from Viet Nam, the family moved to Newport News, Virginia, where Fred served as a civilian physician at Fort Monroe, Virginia, until the family moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Fred began his radiology residency at the University of Virginia (paid for by the GI Bill). Three years later, when Fred began his radiology practice at McClaren Hospital in Flint, Michigan, the family was on the move again, to Flushing, Michigan. After three more years, Martie and Fred decided to move back to Columbus, Indiana, to be closer to their Indiana family.

After twenty years of marriage, Martie began her single life again. She began a series of moves to Seattle, Washington (to be close to her dear sister Meg and her daughter Lauralyn); back to Indianapolis; up to East Lansing, Michigan (to be close to her daughter Deanne and family); and finally in her retirement, back to the Seattle area. In her final year of life, she moved to Lansing, Michigan to be close to her daughter Deanne and family.

Once back in Seattle, she married John Carson. They shared a love of their United Methodist faith, all things music, dancing, Shape Note singing, and the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Later in life, for more than ten years, Martie and John lived and thrived in the Wesley retirement community located in Des Moines, Washington. They had a rich life there full of volunteer activities, musical groups, exercise, many friends, and the adult education courses at “Wesley University.”

Her childhood summers centered around Lake Michigan. After World War II, her parents purchased a cottage in western Michigan at Little Point Sable. Martie’s mother, Helen, had vacationed there with her parents. (Helen’s father was a United Methodist Minister in Oak Park, Illinois.)

Martie loved Lake Michigan. In addition to time at her family cottage, Martie spent many, many summers at Camp Miniwanca, located on the shores of Lake Michigan and Stony Lake. Activities centered around the water: sailing, canoeing, and swimming. She took to heart Miniwanca’s four-fold path, which encouraged young people to grow in four dimensions: mentally, physically, socially, and reverentially. She carried her Miniwanca lessons with her throughout her life. She attended the Camp’s National Leadership Conference and returned to participate in its programs for adults. Later Martie took her grandson, Will and his friend, Peter, to attend the Sierra Club weekend retreat held at Miniwanca.

Martie drew on her Miniwanca sailing experiences when in her early forties, Martie participated in an Outward Bound sailing program, off the coast of Maine. Martie was adventurous!

Martie’s heart was full of music. Her love of music began in her childhood home. The family enjoyed singing around the piano, as Martie’s father played. She had a song for everything, collected from the songbook of her life: Miniwanca camp songs, church camp songs, the Indiana University fight song, folk songs, songs from her preschool and grade school teaching days, hymns, songs she learned in choirs, songs she learned from her parents, and songs from the Little Point Sable weekly community sing. Martie would make up songs. For example, when the young family couldn’t get a camp site at Carter Caves State Park, she wrote a round. (Carter Caves, Carter Caves; State Park, State Park; Camp Sites, Camp Sites; If you’re lucky, If you’re lucky.) The song helped ease the tension in the car, at least somewhat. Each time the family would cross the border and return to Indiana, we would sing “Back Home Again in Indiana.”

Martie also played the piano. One of her favorite memories was practicing piano each morning before breakfast, with her father at her side. One might think that would drive a young child crazy, but she had fond memories of those times with her father.

In her final year of life, Martie moved to Lansing, Michigan, to live close to her daughter Deanne and family. Martie spent the last year of her life in the tender care of Bickford of West Lansing, first in assisted living and in the last six months, in memory care. In her last six months of life, she was also in the care of Heart to Heart Hospice, whose care team ensured that Martie had an excellent quality of life through her final days. In the last few weeks of her life, she attended Easter Sunday services at Edgewood United Church; played balloon soccer; and enjoyed a fudge sundae at Culver’s and a meal at McDonald’s. In her last year, she loved playing rummy and doing puzzles. She was social and an extrovert to the end.

Martie is survived by her first husband, Frederick Batman Andrews; her four children, Deanne Elizabeth Andrews Lawrence (Michael Anthony), Deborah Catherine Andrews Henry (Ralph Wilfred), Lauralyn Hoadley Andrews, and Frederick John Andrews (Lisa Anne); her stepdaughter, Carole Elaine Juul (Ian Douglas ); her ten grandchildren, Will, David, Nora, Hannah, Joel, Alex, Josh, Nathan, Carly, and Chris; her two step grandchildren, Heather and Sarah; her sister-in-law, Joann Hoadley; and her many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, John Eldon Carson; her parents, John Albert Hoadley and Helen Virginia English Hoadley; her older brother, John “Jack” English Hoadley; and her older sister, Margaret “Meg” Hoadley Gildea Putnam.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/gmc/donate); to Des Moines United Methodist Church, Des Moines, Washington (https://desmoinesumc.org/giving/); or to The Rent is Too Damn High (https://mirentistoodamnhigh.com).

Sincere thanks to all of the wonderful caregivers at Bickford of West Lansing and to the amazing care team at Heart to Heart hospice. Your care meant so much to Martie and her family. We are grateful beyond words.

A graveside service will be held at a later date at Chambersville Cemetery near Bloomington, Indiana.

Arrangements are entrusted to Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home, East Lansing, Michigan.

Martie’s life was full of love for family, friends, her faith, and music.