Heaven got a lot more fun when Martha Ann (Christopher) Berry went to be with her Lord peacefully, Monday, July 5, 2021. What a joyous reunion with family who have gone before.
Martha was born July 24, 1936, in Duncan, Ariz., to L.G. “Chris” Christopher and Elsie O. (Harrison) Christopher, the middle of three children. The family returned to Tennessee for a year before moving to Lorane, Ore., when Martha was in elementary school. It was there that she met R.E. “Bob” Berry, who she later married Aug. 31, 1957, in Seattle.
Martha and Bob moved around their first years of marriage since Bob was in the U.S. Air Force. After leaving Seattle, they moved back and forth between Denver and Columbus, Miss., where each of their children were born. In 1965, they moved to Roswell, N.M., where they lived for two years before being stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane. The family lived at Geiger Field for seven years, where Martha spent most of the time being both mom and dad to their kids, as Bob was stationed for months at a time in Guam.
After Bob’s retirement from the Air Force, the family lived in Medical Lake, Wash., while building a home on property they had owned for many years. The family lived in what was to be their “forever home” for two years before moving to Selah, Wash., in June 1977. It was there that they stayed until Bob’s retirement from Hanford. After spending time traveling in a fifth wheel and working as state park caretakers, Bob and Martha finally settled in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 1998.
In all the years of moving, and all of the various types of Air Force houses in which they had to live, Martha always made each move a fun adventure for the family, and made each house a warm and cozy home. While they didn’t have much, Martha ensured her family had everything they needed and that her children had a fun-filled, loving childhood. For many years, Martha was not only a homemaker but would also work outside the home in a variety of positions, such as a bank loan officer, or bank assistant manager.
One of Martha’s favorite jobs, other than caring for her family, was when she worked for the Spokane Public Library System in a local bookmobile, and then as the librarian for Medical Lake’s first-ever library. Martha was an avid reader, scholar and wordsmith, and her love of reading and learning is something she passed down to all of her children.
Martha was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Alice Christopher Ladd. She is survived by Bob, her husband of almost 64 years, her brother David Christopher (Verna Dee), and her three children, Chris Berry (Joan), Diana Berry Banks, and Val Berry Nichols (Greg). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Katy Moore (Keith), Beth Tolley (Nathan) and Sam Rowlett; Lauren McPherson (Caleb) and Miranda Berry; and Zoe Nichols and Lily Nichols; along with eight great-grandchildren, Bailey, Braelyn and Brooklynn Moore; Ewan, Will and Elizabeth McPherson; and Knox and Ari Tolley. She also leaves behind cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws who loved and respected her greatly, not to mention the countless members of her church family — here in Lewiston and those in Yakima and in Spokane.
Martha was a faithful Christian woman who raised her children with strong Christian principles. She loved her Lord and her family, and she will be missed tremendously. We are all the better for having known and loved her. A service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lewiston Church of Christ, 302 Southway Ave.
