Martha S. Berton

Martha Kathleen (Shoemaker) Berton, 87, of Olathe, formerly of Ottawa, passed away quietly on Thursday morning, the 21st of June 2018 at her home in Cedar Lake Village in Olathe, Kansas. Family will meet with friends from 1:00 P.M. Monday, June 25, 2018, at Grace Episcopal Church, 315 W. 5th Street, Ottawa. Funeral service will immediately follow at 2:00 P.M. with Eastern Star services by Union Chapter 15, O.E.S. Interment Highland Cemetery, Ottawa. Martha was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Joh Wilt and Pauline (Gardner) Shoemaker on the 24th of November 1930. She graduated from Lincoln High School, Vincennes, Indiana in 1949; attended Canterbury College, Danville, Indiana; and the University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana. Martha graduated from Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education in 1953. She attended graduate school at the University of Illinois. Martha was united in marriage to John Andrew Berton August 23, 1952 at St. James Episcopal Church, Vincennes, Indiana. Martha taught music at the Marengo Illinois Public Elementary School and was a private piano instructor for many years in Ada, Ohio. She was also the organist for several churches including Trinity Episcopal Church, Findlay, Ohio; Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Bellefontaine, Ohio; and Grace Episcopal Church in Ottawa, Kansas. Martha is a member of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, Olathe. She worked in the Registrar’s Office at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, retiring in 1995. Martha was a member and Past Worthy Matron of Ada Chapter 6, Order of the Eastern Star in Ada, Ohio and a dual member of Union Chapter 15, O.E.S. in Ottawa, Kansas. She served as Mother Advisor to the Order of Rainbow Girls in Ada, Ohio and as a Cub Scout Den Mother in Terre Haute, Indiana and Ada, Ohio. She worked extensively with her husband John in support of the Boy Scouts of America, especially in leadership training at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. Martha is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, John. Martha is survived by her five children, John Andrew Berton, Jr. of Novato, California, Kathleen Jane McGowan of Basehor, Kansas, David Mark Berton of Phillipsburg, Ohio, Peter James Berton of Findlay, Ohio and Susan Emily Sherman of Olathe, Kansas. She is also survived by her sister, Elizabeth Strasser of Rancho Cucamonga, California; twelve grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorial contributions to Grace Episcopal Church or The Order of the Daughters of the King Master’s Fund c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Martha’s Tribute Wall at www.dengelmortuary.com