Alethea Martin

Alethea Mae Martin, age 94, of Berne, Indiana, passed away at 1:48 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Swiss Village in Berne, Indiana. 

She was born on Thursday, Nov. 27, 1930, in Adams County, Indiana. 

Alethea married Willis L. Martin on Saturday, July 1, 1950, in New Corydon, Indiana; he preceded her in death in 2010. 

Alethea was a 1948 graduate of Jefferson Township High School. She was a homemaker and farm wife and loved raising her six sons. 

She was a member of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portland, Indiana, and was a member of the women’s group at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bryant, Indiana. Alethea worked at Gifford's IGA in Berne. She enjoyed crocheting, embroidering, and gardening.

She will be sadly missed by her sons Doyle Martin, Bryant, Indiana, Robert (Beth) Martin, Decatur, Indiana, Dwight (Jane) Martin, Bryant, Indiana, and Bradley (Jill) Martin, Bryant, Indiana; daughters-in-law Abbey Martin, Decatur, Indiana, and Kim Monroe, Bryant, Indiana; sister-in-law Mary Anne Bollenbacher, Decatur, Indiana; 11 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her father, Victor Bollenbacher; mother Ina Chloe (Douglas) Bollenbacher; husband Willis L. Martin; sons Randall Martin and Alan Martin; and brothers Olen Bollenbacher and Roger Bollenbacher at birth.

Family and friends may gather to share and remember at Downing & Glancy Funeral Home located at 100 N. Washington St., Geneva, Indiana, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, from 4 to 8 p.m. and one hour prior to service on Thursday, May 29, 2025. 

A service to celebrate her life will be at Downing & Glancy Funeral Home at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, 2025, with Father Dan Layden officiating. Interment will follow in the Riverside Cemetery in Geneva.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Stillwater Hospice, 5910 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46814, Adams County Council on Aging, 1109 Dayton St., Room 1, Decatur, IN 46733, or Rock Steady Boxing (Parkinson’s Disease), 128 E. Market St., Bluffton, IN 46714.    

Arrangements are being handled by Downing & Glancy Funeral Home in Geneva.

Condolences may be expressed at glancyfuneralhomes.com.