Martha Klara Goyette, 96, of Dennis died Tuesday June 2 at home in the aftermath of a hip fracture suffered four weeks earlier. Martha was born September 11, 1923 in Bobrowniki Poland to Klara and Wincenty Mrochem. She was predeceased by a daughter, Angelika Mrochem, sisters Roza, Maria, and Anna, brothers Franciszek, Roman, Antoni, and Eligiusz, as well as friends Marie Holzhauser and Franziska Rose.
Martha graduated from school in Bobrowniki and was a lifelong learner of various crafts. On July 31, 1953 Martha married Leo Goyette in Augsburg Germany. Starting in her teen years before World War II, and continuing through the war and post-war period, Martha held a series of positions in the domestic field. She immigrated to the US in 1953. With Leo, she ran Leo’s Donut Shop in Mattapoisett during the 1960s. A Dennis resident since 1966, Martha cleaned in motels, cooked in Dennis schools, or was a self-employed seamstress into the 1980s. Martha was a maker of needlepoint art, decorative ceramics, useful furniture—among other things—as well as a gardener. An explorer with Leo of the region, she also had adventures as far as Texas, Quebec, and Montana.
Martha was honored on her 90th birthday by happy memories of gab-fests with her own lifelong friends and dinners for the broken-hearted high school friends or weekend stays for the homesick college roommates of her daughter. Martha will be remembered for her character, work ethic, and support. If someone wanted to pursue something good: a trade, education, homebuilding, a boat, children, travel...Martha was all in. As she pursued her interests, so she supported those of others.
She often remarked about the nice people around her toward life’s end: Elder Service support, VNA Hospice, neighborly visits. Martha is survived by daughter Lorraine and her husband Lawrence Locke, with whom she lived after Leo’s passing in 2011. Other survivors include daughter Christine White and her husband Douglas of Dennis, as well as grandchildren Laura, Lucy, and Phillip. Daughter Erna Meyer and her husband Herbert, granddaughters Tanja and Tina, five great-grandsons, as well as son Kurt Mrochem, live in Germany. Martha’s Polish family includes Jadwiga and Roman Pieczyk, Zenon and Halina Mrochem, Magdalena and Wojciech Czarnecka, and many other relatives of whom she was proud. Martha is also survived by friends Bernice Ponte of Dartmouth, Helga Deptula of Texas, and Inge OConnor formerly of Dennis.
Martha will be privately interred at the National Cemetery in Bourne. A memorial page with guestbook is available on the website of Doane, Beal & Ames
