Martha Poole

Click Here To View Memorial Video Life Sketch for Martha Parsons Birth and Early Illnesses Martha Parsons was born on December 11, 1949 in Marietta, Ohio. She was a tiny baby, only weighing four pounds. Her dad, Rex, became ill and was admitted to a Veterans’ Hospital in Ohio when Martha was only a year old. Her mother, Leola, and baby Martha lived with a series of relatives. Rex was released several months later and the family was together again, with the addition of a sister, Mary, born in 1951. In 1954, a brother joined the family, Joseph Rex Parsons. Over the course of her first five years of life, Martha suffered an ear operation, whooping cough, tuberculosis, and several cases of pneumonia. Her physical and mental development was slow from this early age due to constant illness. Preschool Years During Martha’s preschool years, the family lived in a number of different homes. Rex enjoyed dabbling in real estate, and he began before he was married to buy used homes and rent them as a side income. He would slowly remodel homes and then eventually sell them and buy others. Because of that, the family was moved to one home after another, which he would remodel and either rent out or sell. Grade School Martha was not ready to go to first grade when she was six, so she stayed home and entered school with me the next year, in 1957. Her health had improved a great deal by the time she started school. In our schools today, students are tested and developmental problems like Martha’s are identified early and an IEP, or individual education plan, is set in place to maximize the student’s opportunity to get the most benefit possible from her education. This was not the case when we started school. On top of that, Martha has always been adept at presenting well to others, so that one would need to know her very well to be able to identify the problem. When people first met her, they could not tell that she had trouble understanding. As a result, others often expected more from her than she was able to give. One thing I have realized as I have worked on this life sketch is that Martha and I share a good deal of our history. She went where I went, so we had the same experiences for many years. Grade school was difficult for Martha. She had lost all of the hearing in one ear in the operation she had as a baby, and it soon became evident that learning was not easy for her. During that time, school children were tested each year for tuberculosis. Martha always tested positive because she had had the disease as a baby, and the school officials would quarantine Martha and I from the other children. It was hard for us to make and keep friends with this situation cropping up every year since people were very fearful of contracting TB. Martha and I survived grade school. I did not enjoy it. She would probably say she did. Life at Lowell By the time Martha was old enough to go to school, the family lived on a farm on top of a hill several miles outside of Marietta in the Lowell area. Grandpa Parsons and Grandma Mary lived just down the road. The sixties had arrived. Ruth was born in 1960. We were so far out in the country that the school bus did not even come to our house. We had to catch the bus about a mile from our home. We took a shortcut through the pasture, down over the wooded hillside, and across the creek to the bus stop. In the winter time, the snow was often so deep that our shortcut was not possible, so we were forced to walk the mile on the dirt road to catch the bus. The hillside shortcut was sometimes difficult because of the big old black mule who made his home there. He did not appreciate our entering his domain, and he especially did not like Martha. He would chase her across the pasture. We ran for our lives on a number of occasion. I don’t think Dad realized the danger we were in when we entered the mule’s territory. Moving to Arkansas Later, when Martha was 12, Mom and Dad decided to move to a warmer climate in an effort to improve Dad’s health, and they chose the Texarkana, Arkansas area. When we first arrived in Arkansas, we lived in a small upstairs apartment in Texarkana. Soon we moved to Fouke, Arkansas and lived in a small unfinished house at the back of Uncle Ray and Aunt Penny’s farm. We attended school for a year in Fouke. I have very few memories of that time. One that stands out is that the kids were rough and back woodsy in Fouke. Martha did not back down from anyone, but she was too frail to defend herself, and I swear that Joe looked for trouble, so they were constantly getting into squabbles and fights. I spent recess following them around and keeping them out of trouble. I developed a tough attitude and the other kids didn’t mess with me. I think I prevented a few fights by pulling a “Ruthie” tongue lashing when kids picked on Martha and Joe. Dad found a farm to buy near the small town of Ashdown, Arkansas. The farmhouse sat back from the road behind a small forest of pine trees, which Rex later cut down to help with the mosquito problem. He plowed up a huge garden, and Joe and I were expected to hoe the black-eyed peas that we would sell at the roadside. Martha, however, was not strong enough to do this work, so she stayed in the house and took care of Ruth and Gabe, who was born in 1964. Ruth says Martha wasn’t very patient with her, but she always knew where she and Gabe were and what they were doing. Racial Tensions When we first moved to Ashdown, Martha and I spent our last year of grade school there. This is where we were introduced to the racial tensions of school integration, which had just barely occurred across the south. Things were tense. The next year we started Ashdown High School, where we went to school in grades 7 through 12. The racial tensions were even more pronounced. Coming from the northern states, Martha and I were eager to make friends with kids, black or white, but emotions were still too raw, and we soon learned where the line was drawn. I don’t remember a great deal about Martha’s experiences there, since we often had different classes, but I remember the long bus rides home. Martha stayed out of trouble better than she had in Fouke, but she still never backed down from anyone, so I sometimes had to intervene. Joe was a constant worry. I honed my tomboy protective skills on those bus rides. Martha quit school in her junior year. She just found school to be hard. Ruth and Gabe were several years younger, so Martha and I were gone before Gabe had even entered school. Oak Grove Baptist Church Down the gravel road from our farm house was a small Baptist Church which we attended. Martha loved the Baptist hymns. The hymns you heard previous to this service were some that we sang in the little white frame church. We attended that church off and on for a few years. When Ruth was about four years old, we coached her in singing “Jesus Loves Me” and she sang a solo for the church members. We never joined that church, but we had fond memories of our time there. Martha, Joe, and I attended Vacation Bible School there for 2 or 3 summers and made crafts. I remember the cigar boxes that we painted and decorated with glue and macaroni. Ruth reminded me that she also attended Vacation Bible School at the same little church. She said she and Chelsey passed a church the other day that was advertising Vacation Bible School. Chelsey asked if that meant taking a break from reading the scriptures, and Ruth’s response was that it was a place where you went every day and glued macaroni to a cigar box! The LDS Church A hearing aide salesman who came to the house to sell Mom hearing aides introduced us to the Mormon missionaries. We took lessons from several sets of missionaries, and Mom, Martha, Joe, and I finally decided to be baptized. For Mom, Joe, and I, this took place in a baptismal font in Tyler, Texas. Martha was baptized a short time later in Gillihan Shoals on the Little River. Mom recalls that it was the most beautiful baptism she has ever seen. The setting sun created a silver glow in the sky. The water was a deeper silver, and the white clothing of Martha and the missionary created a beautiful contrast. I just remember the leaches that I pulled off my skin as we drove back from the event. That was traumatic. Although Mom and I became active in the church at that time, Martha had left home to take a training course in California and was gone for several years. Later, when she was living by herself in Ashdown, just previous to her accident, she began attending the LDS church and was studying the gospel so that she could attend the temple. She never made it, but we will do her temple work for her as soon as possible. Back to Ohio The highlight of each year when we were growing up was our yearly trip back to Ohio during the summer. Dad would drive the thousand miles in one day. We never stopped at restaurants, so we had to be well prepared with sandwiches and cookies. We rarely stopped at bathrooms and Martha had a weak bladder, so she suffered most. We never stopped at scenic sights or even slowed down for them. That was my Dad’s idea of the ideal road trip. The car did not have air conditioning, so we kept the windows down and were exhausted with the heat and wind by the time we arrived. When we arrived in the Marietta area in Ohio, we made the rounds of all the relatives. We generally ate a meal with the people we visited. I remember Aunt Hazel and Uncle Midnights delicious homemade cottage cheese, Aunt Polly’s amazing pork chops, roast beef, and pies, Grandma Mary’s fat, fluffy lemon sugar cookies, and Grandma Whitney’s Guess and by Gosh. She made a stew out of all the leftovers in the frig… it was a guess what the ingredients were, and by gosh it had better be eaten! We generally slept at Grandma and Granddad Whitney’s in their apartments over Granddad’s used furniture store at 221 Greene Street. He oiled the plank boards of the floor each year, and since I never wore shoes, my feet were black as coal from running up and down through the narrow building. Martha always wore shoes and socks and kept herself neat and tidy. The Whitney family aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather on the weekends, just as they had when we lived in Ohio. All of us in the family remember 221 Greene Street with fondness. When Martha was a teenager, we traveled back to Ohio, as we usually did during the summer. Mom recalls that Martha had a pair of strapped high heeled shoes with her. We had been visiting Aunt Polly in Beverly, Ohio and were traveling back to Marietta on a hilly highway. The cars that passed us, car after car, would honk their horns at us. Dad was getting a bit fed up with all the honking. Finally, he stopped the car to check it out and determine what was wrong. There, on top the car, were Martha’s pretty high heeled shoes. They had remained on the top of the car for the entire 30 mile trip. When I heard Mom tell this story, just a few days ago, I remembered a pair of silver sparkly shoes that Martha had in high school. I had bought a pair of silver ones for her and gold ones for me, and I still have those shoes. I don’t know why I kept her shoes, maybe because I would need them to tell you about her life. Working at Herb’s During our teen years, Dad allowed us to take a job at the one local drive in restaurant, Herbs. We both became car hops, and we were placed on the same shift, so we could come and go at the same time. We did not wear roller skates, but we put a lot of miles on our feet. Herb’s was the local teenage hangout, so everything that went on in the small town happened at Herb’s. Martha enjoyed her time there. One important element of Herb’s was the rock and roll music that blared over the intercom while we served people in their cars. She loved music, and did not find it to be hard work, because she would jam to the music all evening. Dancing Speaking of Martha’s love of music, her favorite TV show was American Bandstand. It came on every Saturday at noon, on our small black and white TV, and she was always there, ready to watch and join in. As the teenagers on the show would dance to the 60’s tunes presented by Dick Clark, she would dance in the living room on the hardwood floor. Martha was an excellent dancer. She learned new moves from watching the program, but her moves generally had more rhythm than the kids on the show. She danced and the rest of us tried to copy her dance steps. We never could come close. I was always jealous of her ability to dance. Music Martha loved music of any kind, and she constantly had a radio or the small record player playing the latest hits. She loved the Mo Town sound, and her favorite artist was Aretha Franklin. She would play her long-playing album over and over and over. She was always a night owl, so during the summer, she stayed up late into the night and played Aretha Franklin until the wee hours of the morning. I was not a night owl. I liked to go to bed at 9 or 10 and get up early to do my farm chores while the temperature was still bearable. We shared a small bedroom which held twin beds and a small table between the beds that held the record player. Many, many nights I was forced to lay awake and listen to the strains of R-E-S-P-E-C-T over and over again. The best night of my life was when lightning struck the power line and the record player was fried! Well-Dressed Martha was a dresser. When we were young, we didn’t have a lot of clothes. Mom was really good at making clothes for us when we were little and often found our sizes at rummage sales. After Martha and I went to work at Herb’s, we had a little money to buy clothes. Martha learned early to coordinate her clothes. She always matched, always wore shoes and socks, and even her hair barettes, headbands, and sunglasses coordinated if she could possibly make it happen. She spent time every day on her hair and wore the latest 60’s hairstyles with the teased and poofy look. Her nails were always long, well-manicured and polished. Dad didn’t allow makeup, but as soon as she possibly could, she wore lipstick. I was not nearly as dedicated to looking great, and shoes were out of the question. Married Years When Martha left high school, she enrolled in a job training program, which took her to Los Angelos, California where she learned office secretarial skills. She left there and moved to Seattle, where she met Larry Pikovsky, whom she married. They lived in a nice old home on a hilltop in Seattle. From there, she moved home to Ashdown in 1980. In 1983, she married Tracy Poole and lived next door to Mom and Dad on Highway 71 outside Ashdown, Arkansas. She lived there for several years. She and Tracy later divorced, and they never had children. Rex and Leola had moved to another home further out in the country, near Alleene. Rex had rented out the other two houses on the property where Martha lived. Gabe left to serve a mission in Chili and while he was gone, Rex became ill and died in a veteran’s hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. Gabe returned from his mission and married Bev and they moved into the big house, where they watched over Martha. The Big House Let me define the “big house.” It was a small old home that Dad added some rooms to it, making it a three bedroom house. It was larger than Martha’s tiny two bedroom house and the small trailer house on the same property, so it was the big house. I remember visiting there when Dad was adding the bedrooms. He normally used what he called a “dead man,” a t-shaped contraption made out of 2 by 4s to hold the sheetrock up to the ceiling so he could nail it up. When I helped him by holding the sheet rock up, I became the dead man. Joe, Ruth, and Gabe all served as the dead man at various times. The Accident It was during this time that Martha suffered a series of mini strokes. The doctor told her to walk every day, and she did. When the rest of the family moved away, Martha moved into an apartment in town. She was walking to the store one day when a woman driving a big jacked up pickup truck backed out of a driveway and ran over her. Then she pulled forward and ran over Martha a second time. Martha sustained massive head trauma, as well as a number of other injuries. In the hospital, her shoulder was reconstructed with metal plates, as well as her jaw. When Gabe and I arrived a couple of days later, we found her unable to remember anything at all. Every time she woke up, she would ask where she was and what had happened. She has remained in this condition, with little improvement, ever since, and she has only being able to walk with the aid of a walker. Parkwood Her home for the past 15 years has been the Parkwood Assisted Living Home in Idaho Falls. The family decided to move her to Idaho Falls to be near Mary. Soon after that, Leola moved to Idaho Falls to help with Martha’s care. Martha was well taken care of at Parkwood. Her meals were prepared and served to her in the dining room, medical staff gave her medications to her at the prescribed times, and a nurse and doctor were always available for medical problems. Her diabetes became pretty severe and she suffered health problems due to this condition. She still could not remember most things that happened to her, but the familiar surroundings became her home. She relearned to play cards and Bingo, and she enjoyed those afternoon activities. After it became difficult for Mom to go and visit her every week, when they would spend a couple of hours playing cards and listening to music, Martha remembered to call Mom every day before lunch. Ruth and Gabe have visited as often as they could and helped in various ways. Playing Cards Martha had always enjoyed playing cards. We often played card games when we were growing up, especially Canasta. We had a serious shortage of technology in those days, so video games and Facebooking were not an option. Even though Martha had a hard time in school, her ability to play cards was unimpaired. Ruth said when she was young, Martha was wicked at Canasta. She also said that you had to watch her because she cheated. When a volunteer who played cards with her every Thursday at Parkwood came to visit her at the nursing home, she said she really missed playing cards with Martha, but added, “You have to watch her; she cheats!” Martha had a quirky sense of humor. The Stroke Martha suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on May 29, 2015. She spent the next three and a half weeks in the hospital and a local nursing home. She lost her ability to speak and to swallow. Ruth came from Las Vegas and helped me take care of her. Martha went into renal failure and was not able to recover. In both the hospital and in the nursing home, she had a series of dedicated nurses who not only provided excellent care, but showed her love and respect. On June 20 she returned home to her Heavenly Father. The Family As Martha has experienced all of the difficulties of her life, her extended family has been a support for her. Brother Joe died in a car accident when he was 34, so he was not here when Martha needed the most care. However, Mary’s husband, Ernie Flegel, Ruth’s husband, Paul Johnson, and Gabe’s wife, Beverly, have always supported their spouses in whatever they needed to do to care for Martha. Her nieces and nephews have always treated Aunt Martha with affection, and they learned from their parents and grandparents about the responsibility that comes with family ties. And finally, Mom, Leola, spent her entire life worrying over and finding ways to help her little girl, especially during the last 15 years, when Martha was least able to care for herself. The Lesson Martha did not earn degrees; she did not do amazing things that brought her the recognition of others; she did not raise a wonderful family like Ruth and Gabe and I were able to do; she did not have the ability to express her appreciation for the help she received, and she was forced to accept the help of others her entire life. She did one amazing thing, however, she taught the rest of us the value of service. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” I recognize now that I have been privileged all my life to serve Martha, and in so doing, to serve my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Obituary for Martha Poole Martha Ann Parsons Poole, 65, of Ammon, passed away on Saturday, June 20, 2015, at Life Care Center of Idaho Falls. Martha was born December 11, 1949, in Marietta, Ohio to Rex Parsons and Leola Virginia Whitney Parsons. She is the oldest of five children. She spent her childhood years in the Marietta, Ohio area, and when she was 12 her family moved to Ashdown, Arkansas, where she lived until she was 18. As a young adult she lived in a variety of places, but she moved back to Ashdown and lived there for many years. Martha attended schools in Marietta, Ohio; Ashdown, Arkansas; and in California. On March 8, 1983, she married Tracy Poole in Ashdown, Arkansas, where she made her home for the next several years. Martha and Tracy did not have children. In 2001, Martha was involved in an automobile accident, and she was left with many serious injuries, the effects of which left her unable to care for herself, and she became a resident of Parkwood Assisted Living in Idaho Falls to be near family members. She grew to love the staff at Parkwood who gave her loving care for the next 15 years. She enjoyed the activities and filled her time with simple pleasures. Her life was punctuated with bouts of illness, mostly stemming from diabetes. She was cared for by a loving doctor, Wallace Baker, who attended to her needs for those 15 years. On May 29, 2015, Martha suffered a severe stroke, which left her with serious complications. On June 20, she succumbed to the debilitations of the stroke. She was cared for at Eastern Idaho Medical Center, where she received excellent care from the nursing staff and doctors, and also became a patient at Life Care Center of Idaho Falls, where the staff served her needs with loving attention, as well. Her family is grateful for the staff of both of these facilities, as well as Parkwood Assisted Living. Martha is survived by her mother, Leola Parsons, of Idaho Falls; her sisters, Mary (Ernie) Flegel of Ammon, Idaho and Ruth (Paul) Johnson of Las Vegas, Nevada; her brother, Gabe (Beverly) Parsons of Provo, Utah, and a number of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father, Rex Parsons and her brother, Joseph Parsons. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2015, at Wood Funeral Home East Side (963 S. Ammon). Burial will be in Ammon Cemetery.

Funeral Services will be held

2:00 p.m. ,Thursday, June 25, 2015 Wood Funeral Home East Side 963 South Ammon Road Idaho Falls, ID 83406 Notes: Burial will be in the Ammon Cemetery.