Funeral, Eulogy, and Memorial Talks
FUNERAL ADDRESS FOR MARTHA ANN ROBERTSON
[Talk given by John E. Enslen on November 21, 1992.]
This funeral service is being held in honor of Martha Ann Robertson, affectionately known by virtually all who knew her as “Grandma.”
This meeting is being conducted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Grandma was a faithful member at the time of her death.
We express appreciation to the officers and employees of Ellison-Dozier Funeral Home for their assistance with this service. We are grateful also for the musical talents of Mellanie Bailey and Dianne Enslen who serve as chorister and organist.
Our prayer is that Grandma’s family and friends will receive special comfort and peace as we participate together in these proceedings today.
Prior to her death, Grandma expressed her wishes with regard to her funeral service. I am truly honored to conduct this meeting at her personal request, and we will proceed in accordance with the program as she desired it.
The congregation is invited to sing “Rock of ages,” Hymn No. 111, after which our invocation will be offered by Brother Kelley Black.
(Following the Hymn and Prayer)
Although Grandma asked me to speak at her funeral, she never told me what she wanted me to say. I do not know exactly why she asked me to speak. Others knew her for much longer and could speak with more detailed knowledge, but I do know that I have considered her a special friend since the first time I met her, and the more I learned about Grandma, the more fascinated I became. I feel a kinship and love toward her. My feelings are tender as I address you today.
As a history buff, I have come to realize that the passing of Grandma represents much, much more than the death of a good citizen and a wonderful mother. In my mind, she represents the passing of a by-gone era, a unique period of time in our history that will never again be duplicated. There are others in America who are older, but there are very few of those whose lifestyle can match that of Grandma’s for pure, honest, rugged simplicity. There is so much that we can learn from Grandma and the life which she led. I pray that the spirit will guide me as I attempt to share a small portion of Grandma’s life, and perhaps some of the valuable lessons which can be learned from her life.
Grandma was born in rural Tallapoosa County on the east bank of the Tallapoosa River (prior to Martin Dam and Martin Lake) to Samuel Milton Lawhorn and Airre Stewart Lawhorn. She was their first born. A brother and two step-sisters followed. Official birth records were the exception instead of the rule in that day, but Grandma later did some investigating and calculating, and arrived at a birth date of December 4, 1910. Consequently, she was a few days short of 82 years of age when she passed away.
Today it seems somewhat popular to claim that one was born in a rustic setting like a log cabin. Well, Grandma was not only born in a rough wooden house, she continued to live in the same type of structure for virtually her entire life. Except for a short stay in Tallapoosa County, and the last five years with Frances here in Wetumpka, she lived her entire adult life in the most rural parts of Coosa County, enjoying an existence that could be characterized as an early pioneer-type of life that had given way in most areas to a more modern existence.
Grandma’s parents were farmers of small plots of land. They moved regularly, trying to find the best place to rent and farm. Children were needed to help accomplish the labor-intensive farm work. A combination of moving, working, and the absence of nearby schools resulted in Grandma’s receiving a total of about three months of formal education. Thus, she learned the great lessons of life not by reading and studying, but rather by hands-on experience.
On September 25, 1928, at age 17, she was married in her parents’ home to Richard Chesley Robertson, a man of similar Coosa County background, but twenty-four years older, at age 42. Despite the age difference, and the pessimistic predictions of a goodly number of neighboring folks, the marriage “took,” and the relationship was a stable and productive one. Richard Chesley, or R.C., as he was more commonly known, was well acquainted with hardship and the true meaning of endurance. He was a surviving veteran of the European trenches of WW I which claimed the lives of more than twice the number of Americans killed in the Viet Nam War.
Martha and R.C. set up house and began scratching out a meager existence farming in the great depression of the 1930’s, supplementing their food supply by hunting and fishing in the winter. Martha loaded and fired her own hunting guns and baited her own hooks.
One pregnancy followed another pregnancy for 14 consecutive pregnancies, three of which resulted in still births. Marie was first, followed by James Willie, then Rosie Mae, then John Henry, then Buster who only lived a few hours, then Estella, then Lilly Kate, then Walter Lee, then Frances, then Thomas Jackson, then Minnie Pearl. Three of the children have only 11 months between their birthdays and a brother or a sister’s birthday. 126 months, or 10 ½ years, of pregnancy during her 22 year marriage! Thus far, Grandma has 44 Grandchildren, 39 Great Grandchildren, and 1 Great-Great Grandchild, with more certainly to come. Grandma was so glad to be able to see all 10 of her children and other relatives shortly before she died.
While pregnant, she continued to do her farm work. She was plowing behind her mule Kate, when the mule kicked her in the stomach while she was carrying a child. All the children were born at home without a doctor. Sometimes there was a midwife, but usually just a neighbor.
After R.C. died on March 15, 1950, at age 64, Grandma, only 39 years of age at the time, never dated or remarried. For her, there could be no replacement for R.C. She lived more than half of her life as a widow.
She raised children and carried on with the mule plowing and other farm work after R.C.’s death. If there was food to eat, she grew it or killed it, and cooked it on a wood stove. If there was a dress to wear, or quilt to sleep under, she sewed it. If there was water to drink, she toted it from the spring. If there was milk to drink, she milked it from a cow. If there was butter to eat, she churned it. If there was sausage to eat, she grew the hog and slaughtered it. If there was firewood to burn, she chopped it. If there was a place to go, she walked to it. Grandma never owned a car and never learned to drive. It was a four-mile walk to Rockford. Life was simple. You took care of yourself and helped others do the same. Grandma never got a social security check. Family farmers did not qualify. You can’t help but feel a whole lot of admiration and respect for a woman like Grandma.
As days turned to months, and months turned to years, somewhere along the line her name changed to “Grandma.” The name fit her about as naturally as it has ever fit a mortal woman.
I first met Grandma on the day we moved her from Coosa County to Wetumpka, about five years ago. I loaded some of her earthly goods into my pick-up that day. I saw her garden spot, and several of her farm animals. I have been observing her with interest from time to time ever since then. Let me share some things I have appreciated about her personality:
• Grandma was a pack-rat. She did not throw anything away. This characteristic probably developed as a result of living in times of scarcity. Walking around in her room was like trying to run a miniature obstacle course.
• Grandma was talented and industrious—she arose early and did not sleep longer than was needful. I have personally observed her talents in the quilts that she sewed and in the flowers that she grew.
• Grandma kept her word and didn’t quit a project but saw it to completion. She did what she said she would do. George Adams is with us today. He once asked Grandma what she would charge to make him a quilt like the one he saw. Grandma told him it would take a long time and a whole lot of money. Grandma gave him a price of $100.00. About two years later, with people telling Grandma that she should not sell the quilt she had made for less than $300.00, she stuck to her word and sold the quilt to George Adams for $100.00. George tells me today he intends to donate the quilt back to the family.
• Grandma had the heart of a child, a good sense of humor, and she was friendly. She took time to speak to people.
• Occasionally, Grandma was plain spoken. She once told one of her sisters in the church, in the presence of others, “You’re overweight and you need to lose quite a few pounds.” The advice was received without offense.
• Grandma had the courage to do what she believed was right. A fairly common habit amongst the women of Grandma’s era was the dipping of snuff. Grandma started dipping at age seven. Her brand was one of the stronger ones—Bruton Scotch Snuff. At age of 79, when Grandma came to believe that it would be right for her to quit dipping snuff so that she could be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she put down her snuff can and never picked it up again as long as she lived.
• Grandma was a woman of faith. I do not know how often she may have verbalized her faith to others through the years, but I know that the manner in which she lived exhibited a great faith in God. Yesterday, as I visited her room, I noticed four pictures on the wall. There were two pictures of the Savior, one picture of her Church leader, President Ezra Taft Benson, and a picture of the Atlanta Temple where she received her temple ordinances before her death. She bore strong testimony to her Relief Society sisters of her temple experience.
• Grandma kept her priorities right—her heart was not set on the material things. She knew that this life was temporary, and there was nothing very practical to her about being the richest woman in the cemetery. A few material things with no monetary value meant a lot to her, like a button off of R.C.’s WW I military uniform, or the buttons from her wedding dress. These things she treasured and kept.
• Grandma has a special spiritual sensitivity. She sometimes lived in a different spiritual dimension. If we have been in it, we understand it and no explanation is necessary. If we have not been in it, no explanation will ever be sufficient.
Grandma was recently heard to say: “Daddy (referring to R.C.) has come to get me twice, but I told him I could not go right now.” She was later heard to say, “Daddy came to get me again.” (She did not say that she told him she could not go right now.)
Just this past Sunday, after church services, Grandma went with Buddy Maynard (her son-in-law) to visit Bob and Ann Lindley in their home. Grandma sat on the couch unusually quiet. Someone asked her “Don’t you have anything to say today, Grandma?”, to which she solemnly responded: “I want to tell ya’ll something I have never told anyone before. I saw heaven. I can’t describe what it looks like, but I can tell you that nobody has anything to be afraid of.”
I had the privilege of privately interviewing “Grandma.” Just she and I were in the small room. I asked her about a dozen questions relating to her faith. I can say, without any reservation, that she had a deep, abiding testimony, born by the witness of the Holy Ghost, that her Heavenly Father lives, that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son, and the Savior of the world. Grandma believed strongly in life after death, in the resurrection, and in a great reunion of family in the next world. Are we not all thankful to a loving God for the beautiful life of Martha Ann Robertson?
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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The following scripture from the Book of Mormon was read by John E. Enslen at the short graveside service, after which a dedicatory prayer was offered by Buddy Maynard:
“Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection. And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection? Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing in which I do know. Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.”
Alma 40:6-7; 9; 11-12