Martha E. Strachan

Martha Elizabeth Strachan, 101, passed away on October 2, 2018 at Addington Place, Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 12, at Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church, 130 NW Murray Rd., Lee’s Summit, MO, 64081. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The family will greet friends from 9:30-10:30 a.m. preceding the Mass at church. The family suggests memorials in Martha’s name to Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church.

Mrs. Strachan was born in Sugar Loaf Valley in Jerome, Idaho to Mr. and Mrs. W. Thomas Smith on November 29, 1916. She graduated from Jerome High School, attended St. Mary of the Wasatch College in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Northwestern Business College in Spokane, Washington. She worked as a secretary in both Jerome and Boise, Idaho.

She married First Lieutenant Robert R. Strachan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Strachan of Wallace, Idaho, on January 24, 1942 at St. Jerome Catholic Church. Her husband was sent overseas to New Guinea 6 weeks after they were married, where he served in the 116th Combat Engineers, 41st Division. He returned from World War II 31 months later and they settled in Boise, Idaho and started a family. Bob joined General Electric and Martha supported his career, helping to entertain corporate executives along the way. They eventually moved to Salt Lake City, then Louisville, Kentucky, and finally to Kansas City, where they retired. They were able to enjoy travels to Hawaii, Yugoslavia, Ireland and England.

Martha was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother. She cared deeply for her family and loved to bring them together with her excellent cooking and to entertain with stories of her childhood on the farm in Idaho. She was a talented seamstress, an avid golfer in her younger years, and volunteered for St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kansas City at the information desk for 31 years. She was preceded in death by: her husband, Robert; brothers, Matthew Smith and John Smith; and her sisters, Anna and Frances Smith. She is survived by: her son, Brian Strachan of Denver, VCO; her daughter, Mary Ann Rothove and a son-in-law Kenneth Rothove of Kansas City, MO. She adored her 5 grandchildren, Anna Lee Strachan (Dr. James Young), Michael Strachan (Tam Strachan), David Strachan (Celese Strachan), Wesley Rothove, and Molly Rothove (Chris Onik), and her 6 great grandchildren.

Martha’s life reads like a history book of the 20th Century: a Great Depression, two World Wars, the transitions from horse and buggy to cars and planes, the old ways turning to the inventions of modern life. She lived a long and interesting life. Those who love her feel blessed and thankful to the Lord for giving us such a sweet and loving mother, grandmother, and friend.