Martha von Rudgisch-Ballas

Martha A. von Rudgisch-Ballas transitioned from this life with anticipation of her new life, Tuesday, April 23 at 9:50 AM. She was surrounded by her loving daughters and ready to join her beloved husband, Dieter von Rudgisch-Ballas, who passed March 3, 2004. Her deep belief and love of God were evident every day. Her favorite daily prayer can be found in Mathew 6: 9-13. Her favorite hymn was “In the Garden”. She died of natural causes after living a full life of 96 years.

Martha was born Martha Fayette Altom December 27, 1916 in Indiana to a family of six siblings. Her Mother died of an ectopic pregnancy in 1918 forcing her Father to place his four youngest children in volunteer foster homes. Martha was placed with Mary Alice and Franklin Shock of Liberty, Indiana on December 16, 1918. They warmly welcomed Martha, who would become a second daughter in the family. Their only child, 20 year old Clarissa Shock, was away at college and Martha filled their “empty nest” with the love and laughter of a two year old child. Martha developed a very strong bond with her new Mother and Father and ultimately chose to be raised by them. She adopted the name, Martha A. Shock in honor of her new loving family. Precocious and spirited, Martha skipped grades in school, graduating high school at 15 years old. Her father offered her a job in his Perfect Circle Paint Company to occupy her days, as he objected to her attending college at such a young age.

When Martha attended college, one of her assignments in a civics class was to attend a trial. Paul Sheets Pentecost sat next to her, and they began dating. Paul left Liberty to attend Indiana University, where he graduated and began Pre-Med training and eventually became a general practitioner, medical doctor. After Paul graduated in 1937, Martha and Paul were married. Their union was blessed with three children, Stephen Franklin, Mary Ann and after Paul’s service in the 3rd Army under General Patton, Sarah Jeanne was born. The family moved to New Orleans in 1948 where Paul received his specialty degree in anesthesiology. San Diego’s temperate weather beckoned in 1951 after living with Indiana winters and Louisiana summers, causing the family to move west to begin life anew. Martha pursued her love of knitting, needlepoint, baking, cooking, gardening and sewing then and throughout her life.

Martha became President of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Anesthesiology Society during the 1950’s and became a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church. Paul had become an Elder to Education at the church as well. Stephen, Mary Ann and Sarah thrived in their new environment too, with Stephen secretly taking flying lessons, Mary Ann attended modeling school, and joined Sarah for ballet and everyone listened to Sarah’s violin lessons. As the family grew older and left for college, Paul and Martha ended their marriage of 23 years. Martha knew that she wanted to find a career, and chose to use her substantial math skills in the stock brokerage business. She became the second woman in California to be granted a stock brokerage license. She worked for various brokerage houses after launching her career with a partner, an independent stock investment company. While continuing to raise Sarah, Martha pursued her thirst for adventure by summer travels around the world. On a 1963 trip to Europe by merchant ship, a bout of sea-sickness in the North Sea brought her face-to-face with a Maritime German First Lieutenant, Dieter von Rudgisch-Ballas. A long distance romance ensued and they married in 1966. After a few years of a long-distance marriage, Captain Dieter and Martha retired to their lovely rural home in La Mesa, California with their dog Hector then Sasha who were followed by Princess and Pasha. Martha took up water polo and they enjoyed renovating, decorating and traveling to places in the United States that Dieter had not seen from his ports of call. Retirement was a joy. However, in 1972, Dieter was diagnosed with a rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, A lateral Polymyositis, a muscle-wasting disease. They made adjustments and continued to enjoy their time together and with family for the next 32 years, when Dieter passed away due to complications of the disease. Although Martha missed him dearly, her days in their private retreat were enjoyed along with the dogs and the many neighbors and friends that came to call.

There are many yet unmentioned events that Martha lived through, including the first of trans-continental telephone lines, party lines, World War I ending in- 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, mass produced Model T Fords and the first commercial airline passenger flights , Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight, and radio crystal sets in the early 1920’s; The Great Depression, World War II in the 1930 – 1940’s; television, first trip to the moon in the 1950-1960’s; pagers, computers, email, face book, twitter, cell phones, smart phones and the societal changes from an agrarian to an industrial, to a technical society to name a few. Martha lived during the ratification of the 19th U.S. Constitutional amendment which allowed women to vote in time for the 1920 election; Martha lived through the terms of President Wilson all the way to Obama. She adjusted and kept moving forward with courage and determination.

Martha is survived by Stephen and his wife Mary Pentecost, MaryAnn Shushan and her husband Max Miller, Sarah Purcell McClintock and Dieter’s two surviving children, Jutta and husband Winfried Wockel, Michael von Rudgisch-Ballas and son-in-law Hanswolf Donandt. Her surviving grandchildren are John and his wife Patience Bautista, Wayne and his wife Julie Bautista, Monica Bautista; Michael and his wife Holly Pentecost, Paul Everett Pentecost and Colin McClintock; Greg and his wife Angie Ross, Chris and his wife Sherry Ross; Her surviving great-grandchildren, Ryan and Erin Pentecost; Maura Pentecost, Heather and her husband Eric Garr; Evan and Emily Bautista; Daniel, Nicholas, Elizabeth and Christopher Bautista; Lauren and Adam Bautista; Matthias Wockel; Lia Brauns and Kai Donandt; Sebastian, Andreas and Sonja von Rudgisch-Ballas followed by great grandchildren, Tobias, Lilly and Lexlie.

Martha enjoyed a very rich and full life. She touched many lives. Martha’s children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren have gained many of their strengths from her example. Martha’s zest for life, self- determination, search for knowledge and quest for adventure was an inspiration to many.