Lorraine Mary Wodke Martin

My Mom…

Truly an era has now passed. On March 25, 2016, at 1:45 pm, Lorraine Mary Wodke Martin slipped away peacefully in her sleep. On November 27, 1922, she began her life’s journey in a small house under the water tower in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Lorraine learned to play the Hawaiian steel guitar, performing with her siblings in a small band. She went to business school where she learned among other things, short hand, making her an invaluable asset in business meetings. Lorraine fell in love with and married Richard “Rick” Joseph Wodke. They lived in the most humble of homes, a converted auto mechanical repair shop office where they started their family. They had two children, Jim and Jane. They built their first home with the assistance of Lorraine’s father, Anthony Licha, a master craftsman. It was a solid home, built from straight grain lumber, a home which would last a lifetime. In 1952 Rick bought a 1 ton Studebaker truck, built a large metal enclosure on the back, and moved his family to Southern California, the land of opportunity. There, in the San Fernando Valley, he built his first shop and they bought a home surrounded by orange groves. They had large trees which rained black olives. To make extra money, Lorraine and the children collected and sold the olives for 2 cents a pound. Lorraine became a beauty counselor and sold beauty products. She boasted about the frugality of her shopping skills. She could feed a family of four for less than $10.00 per week. They lived frugally and prospered for the next 7 years, when the threat of nuclear disaster confronted all of Southern California. They moved again, to Grants Pass in Southern Oregon. They bought a farm, where Rick dreamed of setting up another shop. Lorraine sold milk and hand churned butter to make ends meet. Because they lived so far out in the country Rick was not able to fulfill his dream, but instead built a shop on Rogue River Highway. They sold the farm and bought a home on Campus Drive, just north of Grants Pass High School. Disaster struck the family in 1979 when Rick succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage. Lorraine now a widow, continued her involvement with the Emblem Club, the Elks Club’s ladies group. These women did many things to benefit those less fortunate by having bake sales and selling knick-knacks , (i.e. converting empty toilet paper rolls into handy decorative electrical cord organizers). She went on to become the Oregon Emblem Club’s State President, overseeing activities in Oregon. She met Wally Martin, a fellow widower, distinguished local attorney, judge, and trombone player in a band. They fell in love and married. Wally and Lorraine lived in Wally’s home on Lawnridge, eventually moving to a wonderful retirement villa until disaster struck again. Wally began showing early signs of Alzheimers and eventually was moved to a support home. Lorraine had developed a benign brain tumor in her frontal lobe, which needed to be removed. After surgery, her doctor noted she was displaying early stages of dementia and so she was moved to a specialty residence, Autumn House, where she lived until her passing. She pined daily for Wally, and reminded everyone she was packed, ready to pick Wally up and move back to a home they had sold years before. Toward the end of her life, she could not remember her visits with Wally, nor the sounds of her own children’s voices. She just knew she was going to pick him up and go home. Lorraine never picked up Wally and never drove him home. She no longer suffers from this world’s troubles, but has moved on to her just reward. May God bless you Mom and thank you for everything you did for us. Lorraine is survived by two brothers, Robert and Frank, and two children, Jim and Jane, who will miss her dearly. Lorraine is also survived by 6 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren, not to mention scores of friends, many of whom who have passed on before her. Most importantly, she leaves behind her good deeds which will live on forever.