Myrtle Elizabeth Martin

Myrtle Elizabeth Martin (née Steffy) 93, of Lititz, PA, formerly of Ephrata died surrounded by family at Hospice and Community Care, Mt. Joy on Monday, June 23, 2014. The daughter of Ada (Hacker) Steffy and Harry Steffy, she was born and raised in Ephrata. She graduated from Ephrata High School in 1939, attended Moravian College in a two-year secretarial course. She worked at Walter W. Moyer Company in Ephrata in the Business Department before marrying Amos Hess Martin in 1942. She then found secretarial and bookkeeping work as a war bride in Louisville, KY and Santa Maria, CA before returning to Walter W. Moyer in Ephrata. In 1960, at 39, a mother of four, she enrolled at Millersville University and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She was a classroom teacher in the Ephrata Area School District for 7 years. In 1967, she received a Master of Arts in Education from Millersville and 1972 a principal certification from Temple University. From 1970, she served as principal in the Ephrata Area School District overseeing two schools simultaneously including Lincoln, Fulton, Washington, Akron, and Bergstrasse Schools until her retirement in 1986. She also served on the boards of both the Ephrata Public Library and the Eicher Arts Center. She was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster and a member of the Ephrata Women’s Club, an avid reader, and a world traveler. She loved the outdoors and the rocky coast of Maine. Nothing gave her greater joy than spending time with her family. She was preceded in death by her husband, her loving cousin J. Edward Hacker, a brother Eugene Steffy and is survived by her brother Dr. Harry Steffy of Lititz. She lives on in four children: Gerald, husband of Ann Martin(York); Marilyn, wife of Gene Graybill (New Holland); Keith Martin, husband of Daniel Donohue (Lancaster); and Julia, wife of Ray Dewar (Lancaster); eight grandchildren: Eric Martin Usner, Jeff Usner, Andrea Hartranft, Michael Usner, Sean Martin, Jeremy Martin, Kelsey Dewar, Jessica Dewar and nine great grandchildren. She will be privately interred in Memory Gardens in Ephrata, PA, but a public Memorial Service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 538 W. Chestnut Street, Lancaster on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. with the Reverend Anne Mason officiating. Family will greet friends beginning at 9:30 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Myrtle Elizabeth Martin Book Endowment Fund, Ephrata Public Library, 550 South Reading Road, Ephrata, PA 17522.

Myrtle Elizabeth Martin

June 24, 2014