96, passed away Monday April 29th 2013, in SanLuis Obispo at an assisted living facility. She wasborn in Santa Barbara, at Cottage Hospital toWilliam E. & Bernice H. Cary in Sept. 1916. She graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1934
and was married to Benjamin E. Romer soon after graduation. She worked at what was then the “Flight Line Restaurant in Goleta for 20 years. She was a member of the Auxiliary at Cottage Hospital where she served for 15 years.
A true artist through and through, there wasn’t a hobby or craft that Martha May couldn’t tackle. It was her life, crocheting afghans, making quilts, knitting for new babies, you name it, she did it. Her Christmas stockings are the treasure of her Grandchildren’s lives, as well as everyone who was privileged to have one. She loved to dance, was a faithful Christian, wrote poetry and many “notes” were found everywhere giving us directions to anything that would be important to us for now and after she was gone.
She loved camping and fishing in her earlier years, and passed on that sport to her children and grandchildren. She was a Mother and homemaker and volunteered for anything she might be needed for. Together she and Ben created a “ranch” in Goleta where they worked hard for 20 years, then moved back to Santa Barbara to enjoy their retirement years. Ben passed away in 1979. They had been married 45 years. In 1995 she married Kenneth V. Nordin and after residing in Santa Barbara, decided to move to Arroyo Grande in 1995. Ken passed away in 2012.
She was a member of New life Church of the Nazarene, helping to count the weekly offerings, cooking for funeral memorials, and loved printing name badges for any occasion with her beautiful calligraphy, another one of those many talents. Sadly Martha May developed Glaucoma and was blind for the past 3 years. She truly missed being able to work with her hands and being in the darkness she never quite accepted the affliction The past 2 years of her life were very difficult for her, and we want to thank the friends who visited her during her stay at the Manse on Marsh, and the love she received from so many care-givers. We also thank Hospice Partners of the Central Coast. It is a blessing that she can now SEE once again and be with her loved ones and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Martha May is survived by her son William “Bill” Romer of Yakima Washington and her daughter Mary Lee (Dave) Iverson of Arroyo Grande, Also surviving are 8 Grandchildren, 18 Great-Grandchildren and 11 Great-Great- Grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husbands Benjamin E. Romer and Kenneth V. Nordin , sister Doris Sorenson and brother-in-law Gilbert Sorenson.
The family will remember Martha May with a memorial reception, which will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers Martha May requested that you give to a charity of your choice, or to Hospice Partners of The Central Coast.
Arrangements are made by McDermott-Crockett Mortuary through membership in the Central Coast Memorial Society.
