1919 ~ 2003
Martha Fowles passed on softly and peacefully on November 4, 2003
after a sudden heart attack.
She was born Martha Janice Garrett on August 2, 1919 in Salt Lake City to George Earl Garrett and Martha Crookston Garrett.
Martha attended West High School and then the University of Utah, where she loved big-band dancing and horseback riding and graduated in dietetics and bacteriology. She was affiliated with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and recently honored by Kappa as a 65-year alumna.
She married Grant Robert Fowles on December 30, 1942 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. During World War II, they lived in Seattle, San Diego, and Washington DC, as Grant served in both Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the U.S. Navy. Martha and Grant lived in Berkeley, California while Grant pursued his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California. They began their family during graduate school, subsequently settling in Salt Lake City. Martha eventually returned to the University to receive her certificate in elementary education. She taught third grade from 1967 to 1986 at Whittier Elementary School, where she was beloved by fellow teachers and students, many of them greeting her fondly in stores or on the street during her subsequent retirement. She was active in PTA, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and LDS Church callings and fund raising involving children-a great love of her life-and was a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
She and Grant were enthusiastic travelers together, enjoying their retirement by taking various ocean cruises, including following solar eclipses.
Martha, constantly devoted to her family, delighted in her eight grandchildren and four great-grand-children, and in the accomplishments of her children. She enjoyed being surrounded by friends and family, offering delicious food from her wonderful kitchen, and opening her home to all, especially her beloved nephew and nieces (Garrett, Verna, and Georgia Robinson), who while they attended college lived with Grant and Martha on Princeton Ave.
She is survived by her husband, Grant; children, Robert (Kathryn), and Richard of Salt Lake City; Janice of Reno, Nevada; and Marilyn (David) Appleby of Santa Paula, CA; grandchildren, Keri (Chris) Williams, Tim (Kristin) Fowles, Lacy (Brandon) Anderson, Madelyn, Remy and Chris Fowles, Zoe and Peter Appleby. She was preceded in death by her parents and her dear sister, Berlin.
Funeral services will be held at the Yalecrest Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 18th East and Yalecrest Avenue, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003, friends and family welcome to visit there during the hour before, and on Friday, Nov. 7th at Larkin Mortuary on South Temple from 6 to 8 p.m. Interment will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.