Joyce Shirley Marten

Joyce Shirley (Lawrence) Marten died August 11, 2015, in Cottonwood, Arizona, following her husband to heaven after his death on July 26th. She was born March 19, 1928, in Iron Mountain, Michigan, to Glen and Agnes (Fredrickson) Lawrence. Following graduation from Tomah High School, Joyce attended La Crosse State Teacher\u0027s College and graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She then taught school in Delhi, Iowa. She married Eugene (Marty) Marten on November 25, 1948 in Tomah. In the fall of 1953, the couple purchased the Montpelier Herald in Montpelier, Indiana, building the newspaper up and selling it in 1957. They then purchased a larger newspaper property in LaGrange, Indiana. The LaGrange Publishing Company publishes the LaGrange Standard and LaGrange News and serves the entire county. Keeping their interest in the Indiana newspapers, they moved on to Arizona in 1969 where they purchased the Verde Independent. At that time it was a small, tab-size publication serving the Upper Verde Valley. It grew with the Valley until it was a full-size, twice a week publication, including special sections for Camp Verde and Sedona. Often it ran to 60 pages. They believed a community newspaper should be solely devoted to the lives, activities, concerns, and interests of people in the community. Joyce had a very popular weekly column, "Voice from the Kitchen," in both the LaGrange paper and the Verde Independent. In July 1979 they sold the Independent to Western Newspapers. Following the sale of the newspaper the couple traveled extensively to over 75 countries on six continents including many third world countries. They traveled coast to coast and border to border, as well as into Alaska and Mexico in their motor home. Joyce had been active in a wide variety of service and business organizations, including Lutheran Women\u0027s Missionary League, Business and Professional Woman\u0027s Club, the Coterie (a literary club), Republican Women, and the churches she attended. She also helped start a kindergarten in Montpelier, Indiana. She was a charter member of Faith Lutheran Church and for the past twenty years has been a member of Rock of Ages Lutheran Church in Sedona. She is survived by her children: Michael (Debbie) Marten, Steamboat Springs, CO; Dennis (Beth Ann) Marten, Chandler AZ; Elizabeth (Dave) Handley, Mammoth Lakes, CA; and Patricia (Michael) Chesney, Medford, OR. She is also survived by ten grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a sister, and a brother. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, parents, a sister, two brothers, son, daughter, and grandson. Services will be Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m., at Rock of Ages Lutheran Church, 390 Dry Creek Road, Sedona. The Rev. Dave Gruenhagen will officiate. Condolences may be sent to the family at P. O. Box 1388, Cottonwood, AZ 86326. Memorial donations may be made to Precious Stones Preschool. An online guestbook is available to sign at www.westcottfuneralhome.com