Martha Haubert Miesch
12/22/1940 - 3/13/2025

Martha Haubert Miesch was born to Bernard and Juanita Haubert on December 22, 1940. Martha was the loving eldest sister to Linda, Johnny, and Billy. The siblings remained close for their entire lives.

Although Martha was born in Kansas, she grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. Her paternal grandparents lived on a nearby farm, and it was there that she learned to swim, in a small muddy pond, called the tank. It was there that she developed a love for the outdoors, and for plants, and for wildlife. Her mother was an active member of the Fort Worth Garden Club, and Martha became involved in gardening as well.

At an early age, Martha showed a talent for art, particularly in oil painting. Over the years, she dabbled in many mediums, at which she excelled. She enjoyed painting abstracts, still life scenes, and portraits.
Martha attended North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics. Shortly after graduating from college, Martha began teaching, and her roommate introduced her to the love of her life.

The two met on a blind date, fell in love, and a year later, married. Together, Martha and Pete brought three girls into the world, Katrina, Elizabeth, and Deanna, and together Pete and Martha raised their children with an example of love and respect. As much as Martha loved her own children, a very special love was awakened in 2006, when she became a grandmother to Stella. Being Grandma became Martha’s favorite job.

Moving became a major part of Martha’s life because her husband’s work as a petroleum engineer took him to places all over the world. Wherever Pete and Martha moved, Martha devoted herself to her family, she worked hard, she earned income, she pursued her interests, and she made lifelong friends.

While Martha had three children who were under the age of six, Martha somehow managed to find the time to earn her Master’s degree in Art History from Southern Methodist University in Highland Park, Texas.
When Pete’s work took him overseas, Martha studied French and Spanish, she painted, and she became actively involved as a parent volunteer at the girls’ school, The American School of Algiers.

While she lived in New Orleans, she worked as a substitute teacher, she worked as a docent at the New Orleans Museum of Art for the King Tut exhibit, she worked as a substitute teacher, and she became certified in the Japanese art of flower arranging, ikebana, and she was honored to serve as President of Ikebana International.

She loved this art form so much that when she moved to Dallas, she and a colleague co-authored an instructional book for children to learn about ikebana. With one daughter in college, and two still in high school, Martha continued to substitute teach, and she accepted long-term teaching positions.

After her three children had graduated from college, Martha found herself working as a teacher at Dallas Children’s Hospital, where she taught terminally ill children. As heartbreaking as some days were at the hospital, Martha continued to go because she loved the children.

When Pete and Martha retired to Kerrville, Martha continued to work with children. She mentored students, and she studied to become a Master Naturalist. After she had earned this certification, Martha found herself volunteering at the Riverside Nature Center, working with children and plants, and this became her second home.

In 2019, Martha was diagnosed with vascular dementia, and the dementia progressed rapidly in 2021 following a knee surgery with a local anesthetic. Despite forgetting words, names, faces, how to perform tasks, and eventually losing the ability to move, Martha handled every second of battling this debilitating disease with grace. She faced the physical and mental challenges with smiles, jokes, laughter, and style. She never complained. Somehow, even though she forgot about some of the most important events in her life, she never forgot how to be polite, considerate, and thoughtful. Every day with dementia was a day filled with challenges, but Martha never felt sorry for herself, nor did she ever give up; she relentlessly practiced everything she learned in physical therapy. She had always been an active person, but after she was diagnosed with dementia, exercise became very difficult. Still, Martha exercised and walked, and she got out of bed, no matter how poorly she felt.

Martha was a proud Democrat. She had a passion for learning and for helping others. She exhibited kindness and compassion to everyone she met. She was a champion for public education, national healthcare, environmental protection, women’s rights, AIDS, Planned Parenthood, the League of Women’s Voters, and she made it her life mission to protect and to educate children.

Martha is preceded in death by her loving mother, Juanita and father, Bernard. She leaves behind her sister Linda, and her brothers Johnny, and Billy. She leaves behind many loving nieces and nephews. She leaves behind her loving husband of 61 years and seven months, Edward Peter Miesch. She leaves behind her beloved children, Katrina Ann, Elizabeth Dawn, Deanna Jane, and her only grandchild, Stella Carina, and her former son-in-law, Tyler Mac Gill.

In the last hours of Martha’s life on March 13, 2025, she was blessed to have her hand held by her loving husband and her daughters. Bernard and Juanita will welcome seeing their loving daughter again, and although Martha’s friends and family will miss her, they will remember her always, with love.

Rosary will be held at 5 PM, Sunday, March 16, 2025, at Grimes Funeral Chapels.

Funeral services will be held at 10 AM, Monday, March 17, 2025, at Notre Dame Catholic Church.

Family burial will be held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Cemetery in Clarksville, TX.

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