Martha Loomer

Martha (Kingma) Loomer, 95, passed away Oct. 12, 2018, at the home of her daughter in Issaquah, Wash. She was born March 4, 1923, in Rapelje, Mont. to Ype and Anna (Vanderby) Kingma, who emigrated from the Netherlands and were lured to Montana by promises of opportunity.

Life was difficult there, especially when Anna was widowed with six young children. In 1931 Anna married Fred Stremler of Lynden, Wash. Martha graduated from Lynden High School in 1940. She worked for J.C. Penney in Lynden, where one of her duties was designing the store window displays. Throughout her life she had a flair for...