Hazel M. Marten

Hazel May (Wooley) Marten was born August 29, 1920, in Caldwell, ID. She died February 23, 2011, in East Wenatchee, WA. Hazel was born the year women received the right to vote. She experienced most of the history of the 20th Century, including the Great Depression, the Second World War, in which she served, the Baby Boom, the 1960's, including Civil Rights and the Vietnam War, and lived to see the new millennium. Her proudest accomplishment was raising her five children: Daniel of Los Angeles, CA; Mark of Hastings, NE; Anne of East Wenatchee, WA; Gale of Maple Valley, WA; and Grant in Holland. She enlisted in the Army near the end of the Second World War and was eventually deployed to Germany as part of the 7708th War Crimes Group. In Augsburg, Germany, she met and married her husband of 50 years, Harold Marten. She actually lived the story told in the movie "I Was a Male War Bride." He preceded her in death in 1998. They began their life together back in the U.S. in Seattle, WA and moved following work opportunities to Spokane, WA, then to Phoenix, AZ and Salt Lake City, UT, before returning to the Pacific Northwest. She and Harold settled in Snohomish, WA and enjoyed the births of 11 grandchildren. She is survived by four of her children, (Mark died in 2008), the 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, living across the country and in Holland. As a young girl, she was particularly fond of her years on a farm with her favorite horse, Babe. She attended Boise High School in Idaho and was once the Canyon County Spelling Champion. Though she was very smart, educational opportunities were difficult to find during the Depression. A high school teacher loaned her enough money to attend business school in Boise and she learned typing, 10-key operation and bookkeeping. She assisted her husband as bookkeeper for his business, allowing her to work from home. She made it a point to always be home to greet her children as they returned from school. She delighted in teaching her children and grandchildren about plants and animals; she always maintained a garden of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers, partly as a habit born of the farm and the Depression, but also to educate her family on the process of life. Of all of her experiences, she was most proud of her family. She spent her last years in the care of her daughter, Anne Conway, in East Wenatchee, WA and celebrated her 90th birthday nearly six months ago, with a small group of family members. She will be Interred with her husband, Harold, at the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery in Snohomish, WA. Memorial Services are pending. Donations may be made in her memory to the Women's Memorial Foundation, Dept. 560, Washington D.C. 20042-0560.