Martha Bruegging

Martha Sophie Retchek Bruegging was born in rural Hill County, near Aquilla, Texas, on August 31, 1924. Her family lived there, and in Penelope, and later in Abbott, all near the town of West, Texas. She was salutatorian when she graduated from Aquilla High School in 1943. She was also captain of the basketball team which won three state championships. In 1944 she married Joe Bruegging, from West, in Virginia where he had been sent after enlisting in the Navy. They returned from Virginia shortly thereafter to begin their family.

They lived in Garland, Texas, making lifelong friends, and welcoming their first daughter. Ambitious and hardworking, she and Joe soon bought land and a house in Irving, Texas where their second daughter arrived to complete the family. They opened a restaurant, the Cre-Mel drive-in, with carhops serving hamburgers and shakes, years before McDonald’s ever came to town. At the same time, they opened a Southern Maid donut shop at the other end of the block, giving them the opportunity to work around the clock.

Martha focused on home and family until the girls were older, later finding work at the Sears Catalog Center in Irving Mall. She enjoyed meeting and helping any and everybody. It was the perfect job, allowing her to meet half the residents in Irving, and making many more lifelong friends among her coworkers.

She loved travelling and enjoyed many cruises to foreign ports. She loved shopping for any occasion great or small. She loved cooking and baking. She loved her grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren they recently had. She will be missed by many.

Arrangements made under the direction of Calvary Hill Funeral Home located in Dallas, Texas.