Martha King Named Resident Of Month In January

Martha King was the January Resident Of The Month at Fairlawn Haven Nursing Home, Archbold.

She was born March 7, 1918, to Christian and Emma “Lizzie” (Blosser) Kulp in Elkhart County, Ind. She had five brothers and four sisters.

Martha’s father moved the family many times during her first 12 years, going where he could find jobs to support his large family. Martha remembers having wooden boxes for dressers so the clothes didn’t need to be packed when they had to move again.

Martha attended a Mennonite church house. The people had different ideas. The Blosser group talked in English, drove cars, and met in the church house every other Sunday.

The Yellow Creek group believed in horses and buggies and spoke German, and met in the same building on alternate Sundays.

Martha said her grandfather did not like the family moving so much, so he bought them a country home. Then from age 12, her life was more settled.

The family began attending the English-speaking Mennonite church all the time, and the children could understand all parts of the service.

At age 14, she accepted Christ and was baptized.

After finishing school, Martha cleaned houses in the Elkhart and Goshen areas. In 1939, she had a live-in job in Wakarusa for the owner of Yoder Potato Chips that was located in a room of their home. She cleaned their home, and spent many hours peeling and slicing potatoes.

Martha also worked for a factory in Goshen that made baby clothing.

Her brother introduced her to Orlen King. They married on Dec. 23, 1945, in the home of their preacher, Ed Frey, a bishop. Martha was 27 and her husband, 35 when they married. Her husband worked at Markee Bronz Bushings factory until he retired.

A year after her third child was born, they bought a home north of Tedrow near where the Inlet church is now.

Her husband didn’t enjoy driving long distances, so when they traveled, she drove.

Martha enjoyed reading, sewing, gardening and canning.

In later years, the Kings lived in Pioneer Estates, Pettisville, where her husband died in April 1993. After living 14 years there, Martha moved to Fairlawn Assisted Living.

She moved to Fairlawn Haven in October 2007. Her four children are Delbert (Jane), Stryker; Velma (Rollie) Ulrich, Goshen; Kermit (Sharyn), Denver, and Gerald, Ukraine.