Schulke, Martha Freida Marie

Martha Freida Marie Schulke, 104, passed away March 1, 2012, at the Woodlands, The Meth-Wick Community, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, with a 3 p.m. prayer service at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home, 520 Wilson Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, conducted by the Rev. Randy Nord. Inurnment will be held at a later date at Lutheran Cemetery in Galva, Iowa.

Martha was born Sept. 18, 1907, to Otto and Mathilde Schulz in St. Paul, Minn. She grew up in Kansas City, Mo. As a teen and a young woman she participated in many sports and won numerous medals and loving cups in swimming and tennis. She once swam in a relay race against Gold Medal Olympian Johnny Weismueller (Tarzan) at her swim club, and was coached by the great surfer and Gold Medal Olympian swimmer, Duke Paoa Kahanamoka, the “Big Kahuna” from Hawaii.

Martha went to Business College and worked for Sears Roebuck in Kansas City and eventually became a long-distance supervisor at Southwestern Telephone Co.

She married Walter Frank Herman Schulke on Sept. 2, 1932, and they farmed near Galva, Iowa. They retired to Galva and later moved to Arthur, Iowa. After Walter's death in 1981, Martha moved to Cedar Rapids to be near Richard's family. From1986 to 1987, she lived with her son Joe's family, where she celebrated her 80th birthday.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter; son, George Edward; granddaughter, Jodie Kae Schulke; three sisters and two brothers.

Survivors include her sons, Joe Frederic (Bonnie) of Mammoth, Ariz., Russell Weber (Myrna) of Billings, Mont., and Richard Otto (Janice) of Cedar Rapids; daughter-in-law, Judith Kae Winterhof of Galva; a nephew, Gary Schulke (Marty) of Flagstaff, Ariz.; 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; four stepgreat-grandchildren; and several stepgreat-great-grandchildren.

Instead of flowers, memorials may be made to Bethany Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids.

Please sign the online guest book for Martha at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.

Published March 2, 2012 in The Gazette