Martha Ann Warner Metrailer

Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and dear friend to many, Martha Warner Metrailer passed peacefully on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, at her home in Baton Rouge. She was 83, born on May 22, 1925, in Jonesboro, Ark., and grew up in Hoxie and Walnut Ridge, Ark. She graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where she was selected as one of the candidates in "the girl we would most like to go AWOL with" contest sponsored by the Navy V-12 unit. She received a degree in speech, with emphasis in broadcasting and writing, and became a resident of Baton Rouge as a newlywed in 1947. Once in Baton Rouge, Martha attended the LSU school of music, and went to work at WLSU, now KLSU, when it first went on the air, as well as WJBO as a continuity editor. She also wrote dramatic programs, program notes for the LSU Symphony and Opera performances, and public service announcements. When the Freedom Train came through Baton Rouge, she wrote dramatic scripts for it as well. She returned to LSU to receive her teacher's certificate in speech and English, while continuing to study broadcasting, communications and theatre. Martha was an accomplished classical and jazz pianist, published poet, actress, and writer. She also worked alongside her husband, Ed, for Metrailer and Associates, Consulting Engineers, later forming Terrace Land Co. After her husband's death, she became the president and majority owner of the company. She also taught classes for The Journey of Hope, Louisiana Alliance for the Mentally Ill's education and support program for families. Martha is survived by her sisters, Peggy Warner, of New York, and Lucia Allen, of Walnut Ridge, Ark.; children, George, Philip, Richard and Arthur Metrailer, all of Baton Rouge, Charles Metrailer, Melanie Metrailer and Celia Lauve, of New Orleans, Lucia Metrailer, of Pittsburgh, Penn., and Martha Farley, of Cazadero, Calif.; 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Edward Metrailer Sr, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas; parents, Lucian and Margaret Warner. of Walnut Ridge; and grandson, Charles Evariste Lauve, of New Orleans. Pallbearers will be Micah J. Metrailer, David W. Lauve, Samuel E. Allen, Charles E. Metrailer III, Damien W. Metrailer, and Zachary A. Morris. Visitation at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., on Monday, Nov. 10, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitation and religious service at St Aloysius Church, 202 Stuart Ave., Tuesday, Nov 11, at 10 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Marcell. Memorial donations may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, (888) 999-6264, P.O. Box 759155, Baltimore, MD 21275-9155; and to Catholic Relief Services, crs.org, (800) 736-3467, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD, 21203-7090. She will be laid to rest next to her late husband in St. George Cemetery.