Martha Rose Roth, nee Prichard, nee Kriss, the “Yellow Rose of Texas,” passed on to her eternal rest in her 72nd year. Martha was blessed to spend 20 years with Bob Roth, the love of her life and best friend. They enjoyed being with family above all else with many hours enjoying surviving son Jeremy, wife Kelly and granddaughter Lorelei; son Kevin , grandson Ezra; son Colin and love of his life Amber and grandsons Carter and Bennett; granddaughters and adopted daughters Skyeanne and Cailin; step daughters Sonya, Angie and Kelly, her husband Marc, granddaughters Zoie and Keelie and stepson Rob. She lost her daughter Megan to Cancer and thought of her every day.
Martha’s friends were many and she touched lives of more than 10,000 students, Reeves Middle School staff, and Olympia School District staff.
Martha was born in Fort Worth, TX, but spent most of her life as a Washingtonian. Raised in Renton, spent her summers in Livingston Montana with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. She graduated Cum Laude from Seattle University and then earned her Masters in Educational Administration from the University of Puget Sound. Proud to call Olympia home for forty years, Martha dedicated her life to her career as an educator - spending more than twenty years as the principal at Reeves Middle School.
Martha’s Catholic faith was ingrained deeply, and she personified the ideal of turning the other cheek. Knocked down many times, Martha always picked herself up with a smile and a hope-filled heart, never a bitter one. She was selfless to a fault and took on the burdens of others, accepting them as her own. People were drawn to her and her warm and generous spirit. As her family, we knew she could never just “run to the store” – she knew everyone, and, if she didn’t, they wanted to get to know her. A quick trip to the gas station would later result in her recounting the life stories and struggles of the new friends she had just made.
Though she knew so many, one of her greatest joys was to get away with her coffee klatch and while away the hours, laughing and telling stories with her dearest friends. To the last, she desired to stop by and see them for a “drive-by wave.”
Born to the open road, she loved nothing more than getting behind the wheel and driving. Just driving. Seattle. California. Montana. The Oregon coast. Kansas. Flying to Florida and driving from Jacksonville to Cocoa Beach to Key West. It didn’t matter. Just the open road, and some tunes - the music she grew up with. From the Andrews Sisters to the Beatles, music was ever-present . She loved to dance in the kitchen and sing in the car.
She and Bob would walk for hours and miles in San Francisco, NY, Washington DC, London, Paris, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome, Key West, Maui, Cocoa Beach…
Martha was a woman with a particular sense of style, both in her dress and in her housekeeping. She had an outfit (with a matching set of earrings and a brooch) for every occasion, and her home was decorated impeccably for every holiday and season.
It is for all of these reasons and so many more that we will miss Martha, Mom, Grandma, our Yellow Rose and Bob’s love of his life. The world is a better place for having known her, and is a little sadder with her passing.
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