Martha Jane Krauss
June 18, 2006

Martha Jane Krauss, daughter of Frank J. and Mary (McCutcheon) Bjornson, was born March 26, 1909, on a farm north of Goldfield, Iowa. She attended a rural school and Goldfield High School. She received a Teacher's Certificate from Iowa State Teachers's College and later a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Drake University. She taught for 31 years, with the first four years being in rural schools in Wright County, and in various Iowa towns, completing her teaching career in Des Moines.

On August 2, 1960, Martha was married to Elmer Krauss at the St. John Lutheran Church in Corwith, Iowa. They lived on a farm south of Corwith, with Elmer's two daughters, Evelyn and Shirley and Martha's mother.

She was a member of Baptist Churches in Goldfield and Des Moines. After her marriage, she became a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Corwith. She was a former member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Renwick. She enjoyed cooking, canning, crafts, crocheting, sewing and knitting. She especially liked helping make quilts for missions and Lutheran World Relief.

Martha died on Sunday, June 18, 2006 at the Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt. She was 97.

Martha is survived by her daughters, Evelyn Hopf and husband, Marvin, Orient, Iowa and Shirley Leemaster and husband, Dale, Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. Also surviving are her grandchildren, Denise Hopf, Earlham, Iowa and Brian Hopf and wife, Crystal, Stanton, Iowa and many nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of neighbors and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Elmer.

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