Martha Rhea

Martha Rhea, a resident of Lemoore for over 72 years, died Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Hanford Community Hospital. She was 92 years old.

Martha was born on Feb. 25, 1917 in Dimple, Texas, to Earl and Bernice Wilson. Her parents died before she turned 4, and she was raised by her grandparents on a farm in Whitt, Texas.

On July 15, 1935, at the age of 18, she married Leonard Rhea, who had been her boyfriend in the fifth grade. Martha and Leonard moved to Lemoore in May of 1937. Martha worked as a seamstress at the Lemoore Naval Air Station, and later co-owned the Pin Cushion Tailor Shop in Lemoore.

In 1956, Martha became a member of the Island Baptist Church. In 1972, she joined the First Southern Baptist Church in Lemoore, where she served as a Sunday School teacher for 35 years.

Martha will be remembered for her amazing love of family and friends, and her quick wit, but the Christian example she provided to others will be her greatest legacy.

Martha is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Wanda and Ernie Drewry. She also has six grandchildren, Tim, Sharie, Jeff, Jacky, Todd and Lisa Rhea, as well as Matt and Deanna Drewery and Greg and Martha Azevedo. She has 13 great-grandchildren, Josh, Sonja, Courtney, Megan, T.J., and Samantha Rhea, Sara and Phillip Cooper, Jordan, Meagan, Dylan, and Brendan Drewry, as well as Stratton, Briggs, and Allison Azevedo. She also recently added three great-great-grandchildren, Hayden and Jackson Cooper and Ethan Rhea. Martha was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Leonard Rhea, as well as her son and daughter-in-law, Tal and Carole Rhea.

The Funeral will be at 10 a.m., Friday, Jan. 15 at Koinonia Christian Fellowship in Hanford.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Kings Christian School, 901 E. D St., Lemoore, CA 93245.