Individual Details

Death

Martha “Mickey” Phillippia Moorshead Wiltse Matthews was born April 17, 1917 to George  & Della Mae (Furr) Moorshead at Breckenridge, Missouri. She was the youngest of 7 children.  She passed away at Mackinac Straits Area Hospital in St. Ignace, Michigan on June 30, 2012. She attended Wolf Grove (grade) School and Breckenridge High School, graduating in 1935. She travelled to school on her pony, then drove a buggy and later rode a horse. She was raised on the family farm. One of her more vivid memories was riding her horse home from a church function and just being missed by a tornado. In high school, she played basketball (earning a letter),  played trumpet in the band and was involved in 4-H. She and a friend won a trip to the state competition for one of their 4-H cooking demonstration projects. After high school graduation, she moved to Upper Michigan to help her sister Margaretta, who was in ill health at the time, care for her children. After that, she worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Maas in Houghton. The job she disliked most there involved cleaning the spittoons. This house is now part of the Michigan Technological University Campus. At one time it was the University President’s Residence and now serves as the Alumni offices. In about 1937, she and a group of friends from the Copper Country moved to Detroit in search of better employment opportunities. Martha worked as a housekeeper and nanny for a family in Gross Pointe. She enjoyed roller skating with her friends.  One evening at the rink, a friend lost her watch and they reported that to the rink attendants.  In a journal, Martha wrote: “Freeman Wiltse found her watch and asked if he and his brother could see us home. To my surprise, his brother was the handsome guy I had just told my friends that I would like to bring him his slippers and pipe every night! As floor manager, he always skated backwards, so I had gotten a good look at him. He asked me to marry him on the second date. I accepted two years later.”   They married on February 1, 1940. During World War II, John served in the infantry in France & Germany. He was wounded. A neighbor who was in his unit wrote to his parents that John had been killed and the information passed to Martha. Two weeks later, Martha heard that John was severely wounded but still very much alive. She did not see him for 3-1/2 years.  During the war Martha worked at Ex-Cell-O. They made aircraft parts she inspected them – using a micrometer and comparing the finished part to the drawings. She also served in the Civil Defense organization as a block warden where she lived in Detroit. After the war, they moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and joined Martha’s sister and brother-in-law, (Georgia Belle and John Howard), in the radio and appliance business. They were selling and servicing radios and intended to expand into gas appliances, based on John’s pre-war experience in gas appliance service in Detroit. Shortly after they arrived in Sault Ste. Marie,  John Howard passed away and John and Martha took over the business,  learning the electronics trade. Martha was the bookkeeper and accountant, running the shop while John made service calls. The shop kept the name Howard Service Company and was located on Ashmun Street just north of the power canal. They later expanded into television. Martha also worked for a while in the office at Soo Creamery. John and Martha were involved in the Amateur (Ham) Radio group although neither ever held a ham license. Many club meetings were held in their home and they helped with the Civil Defense organization. John & Martha were involved with the local Izaac Walton League. Both shot on their rifle teams. Martha won many medals in competition throughout the state and Midwest. It is said that the Izaac Walton Women’s Rifle Team beat the Soo Ontario National Guard Men’s team. The SOO Ontario TV Station Sports Announcer suggested the guys not bother coming back across the border after losing to the women. Martha always enjoyed animals and gardening. She was a founding (& lifetime) member of the Eastern Upper Peninsula Horsemen’s Association. She spent long hours supporting horse club activities and shows. She supported the 4-H Horse Club. She managed Rock-N-Horse Ranch tack shop and horse supply store, which was run out of their home on 3 Mile Road. She maintained a large garden for fresh food, canning and freezing produce for the whole year.  John & Martha shared their abundant love and many blessings with two children – John & Sandy. They demonstrated their love in many different ways and were involved in supporting many activities and functions. Martha was a Sunday School teacher for several years and during her life attended Central Methodist Church and later the Wesleyan Church. John and Martha celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary before he passed away. She later married Bob Matthews. When she remarried, the couple was required to go to pre-marital counseling. They were often asked what they taught the pastor during these meetings. Between them, they had a combined 100 years of marriage and both had cared for ill spouses. Bob was a Laker Hockey fan and had season tickets for the hockey games. Martha also came to love hockey and kept the season tickets after Bob passed away. She attended many home games and listened to the away games on the radio. Though not a world traveler, she enjoyed trips back to Missouri to attend high school and family reunions.  The spent many happy days at a one room cabin located at Back Bay, west of Brimley. Her life was enriched by many pets, especially dogs. King, a boxer, ruled their home for many years. Most recently JJ, a Boston Terrier, was her constant companion. His ashes will be interred with her. Martha enjoyed sharing her gift of hospitality with friends and relatives. She was always ready to put on the coffee pot and a meal for anyone who stopped by. She remembered trips during the depression when all they ate was ketchup diluted with water and determined to keep her visitors fed. Martha was also a worrier. At the end, she still worried about her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a host of other things. Martha could have been a great writer of disaster novels because she could think of dozens of potential calamities in the simplest of activities. She is survived by her children: Sandra Wiltse of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and John R. (Melanie Behling) Wiltse of Rudolph, Wisconsin, Wiltse;   three grandchildren: Robert J. Wiltse, (Rudolph, Wisconsin), Stephanie Wiltse, (Milladore, Wisconsin) and Sara (Michael) Pritchard,  (Stevens Point, Wisconsin);  seven great-grandchildren; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. She was predeceased by her husbands, parents, and her sisters and brother …who are now all reunited together in heaven. Visitation will be held at Hovie Funeral Home on Thursday, July 5, 2012 from 4-8 p.m. and Friday, July 6, 2012 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Funeral services will be held Friday, July 6, 2012 at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Pine Grove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Hospice House c/o Hospice of E.U.P., 508 Ashmun, Suite 120, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 49783.