Martha Speir

Services are scheduled for 10 am Wednesday, January 3, at Hermosa Church of Christ for Martha A. Speir of Artesia, New Mexico.

Martha Avery Speir was called home to our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus on December 31, 2023. Martha was born to John Carlie Cooley and Edna Pearl Cooley on May 2, 1932, in Wichita Falls, Texas. She moved to the Artesia area in the late 1930s and remained in the area for most of her life.

She was a long-time member of the Hermosa Church of Christ. She loved the Lord with her church being the center of her life. Any time the doors were open, you would find Martha in the pew or visiting someone she knew in the church. She loved reading the Bible and attending ladies Bible studies as much as she could. To her, the Bible was not just a book to read and study, but a guide for living one's life.

Raising five children was a full-time occupation that she managed with determination. Any one of them would tell you that her fudge at Christmas and home-made ice cream during the summer were the best around. But she could just as easily be found calling out spelling words or drilling any one of the children on the multiplication tables until they could recite them by heart. And in raising five children there were more than a few baseball, basketball, and of course, football games to attend to support her children ....and the team.

But it was not all work. A summer vacation with the kids out of school and John Sr. having to work was not something to be called off. Instead, she would load the kids up in the station wagon and head off for Six Flags over Texas for a couple of days. Those were times not easily forgotten with a mother undaunted by adversity. Those were also times fondly remembered by her children.

In addition to her children, Martha also took care of her mother. As her mother's health deteriorated Martha added visits daily to ensure her mother was well cared for until her passing.

With the passing of her husband, John, in June 1999, Martha went to work at the Pecos Diamond to fill her time in addition to working on her rose bushes. She retired from Grammy's House in 2018.

She was preceded in death by her husband John Paul Speir Sr. and son Ronald W. Speir.

She is survived by her son Donald Speir and wife Tajuana of Temple, Texas, son John Speir Jr. of Artesia New Mexico, daughter Toni Blackburn of Lawton, Oklahoma, and son Lonnie Speir and wife Bonnie of Russellville, Arkansas.

She has numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren.

She will be greatly missed by her family ...... but we will see her again when the Lord gathers each one of us home.