Mary Martha Thaxter
Mary Martha Thaxter, 91, died
Oct. 20, 2007. She was born July 9, 1916, in St. Joseph, Mo., to Charles P.
Bristol and Emma Scott Bristol. She attended public schools and community
college there. She married Xenophon John Pindall and moved to Hawaii just prior
to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. They survived that event and continued
to work in Hawaii until being transferred to Alaska, then a territory of the United
States. Eventually they moved to Berkeley, Calif., and she continued to live
there until her husband's death in 1970. During those years, she provided
loving care to her mother and mother-in-law. Travel then was difficult so she
maintained constant written contact with her bother, Harry Bristol of Tuscan,
Ariz., and her sister Elizabeth Adrian of Moundridge. Both preceded her in
death.
In 1976, she married Ted
Thaxter and together they moved to Lone Pine, Calif. They lived a secluded life
there enjoying each other and nature around them. He died suddenly in 2004 and
she moved to Newton to live close to her niece Sharon Adrian of Hutchinson and
her nephew Tom Adrian and his wife Ann of Newton. They provided care and
support for her while she was a resident of the Presbyterian Manor in Newton.
Even as her mind and memory began to fail in her last years, she maintained her
quick wit and strong will.
There will be a graveside
service at 5 p.m. Friday at Greenwood Cemetery.
Petersen Funeral Home is in
charge of arrangements.
