Helen L Martin, 1924 - 2024

MARTIN, WILLETT, MCCORD

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 12/31/2024 at 23:56:00

Helen L Martin, 99, of Sloan, IA passed away March 20, 2024 at Sunrise Retirement Community in Sioux City.

A memorial mass will be 10:30 A.M., Saturday, May 25, 2024, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Salix, Iowa, with Father Michael Erpelding, celebrant, officiating. A live stream of the service will be posted on the Goslar Funeral Home Website with Helen’s obituary. Burial will follow in the Sloan Cemetery, Sloan, Iowa, with Military Honors provided by the Smith- Rhodes American Legion Post #295, Sloan, Iowa. A visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Arrangements are under the direction of Goslar Funeral Home and Monuments, Onawa, Iowa.

Helen was born December 25, 1924 in Sloan, the daughter of Roy and Pearl (Willett) McCord. She grew up in Sloan and graduated from Sloan High School in 1943. After graduation, Helen proudly served in the United States Army. She was a medic stateside during World War II, serving from 1944 until her honorable discharge in 1946. She then attended the University of Iowa and became a lab technician.

Helen worked at Halliburton Labs in Corpus Christi, TX, and then Ideal Cement Research Department in Fort Collins, CO. While renting her home in Colorado, Helen met Lewis Martin. His parents were her neighbors and they met when he came to visit for the holidays. The couple were married on May 18, 1959 in Las Vegas, NV. After briefly living in Los Angeles, they moved to Boulder, CO in 1964. Lewis worked for Ball Aerospace, where he helped build some of NASA’s first spacecraft and get John Glenn into orbit.

Helen was a wonderful seamstress and made beautiful clothing, even sewing most of Lewis's sport coats. She enjoyed antiquing, was an excellent cook and a huge animal lover. Over the years, Helen & Lewis had many four-legged kids that meant the world to them. They enjoyed many trips in their motorhome all over the US and liked to pan for gold on their land in Colorado. Helen was a breast cancer survivor and was very involved in volunteer work for the cause, always giving of her time to help other women.

Survivors include her sister, Mary Smith of Rogers, AR; sister-in-law, Irene McCord of Onawa, IA; cousin, Maxine Corderman of Newell, Iowa; special niece, Susie Clay of Phoenix, AZ; along with many other nieces and nephews.

She was proceeded in death by her husband, Lewis Martin; parents, Roy and Pearl McCord; sisters, Lucy, Evelyn, and Betty; and brothers, Mac, Lee, and John.

Condolences may be left online for the family at www.goslarfuneralhome.com