Martha Griffith

LAGRANGE, Ill. -- Martha Stuber Griffith, 90, long-time resident of Cincinnati and recently of LaGrange, passed away Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, in LaGrange.

She was the beloved wife of the late Edgar L. Griffith; loving mother of E. Lee (Karla) Griffith III and Sara Griffith Adducci; proud grandmother of Lindsay (Damon) Yasseri, Andrea (Adam) Caler, Mallory (David) Fuentes, Maria Adducci, Alexa Adducci and Rachel Adducci; great-grandmother of Hadley and Leverett Fuentes and Canyon Caler; dear sister of Richard (Martha) Stuber; beloved aunt, in-law and friend to many.

Martha was pre-deceased by her loving parents, Emmett "Abe" and Dorothy Stuber.

She was a coach's daughter and grew up in Cape Girardeau. When her father transferred as head football coach to Iowa State University, she attended high school there, where she met the love of her life, Ed. She attended ISU to be where her father coached and her future husband was also attending. She has many lifelong friends from these years who she kept up with throughout her life.

After Ed and Martha were married, she had a stint as a Navy wife and had her two children, Lee and Sara. Soon after, Ed and Martha spent most of their lives in Cincinnati, with Ed working with Procter & Gamble, and Martha teaching, tutoring and raising their children.

The main life event for the family was when Ed brought home a Snipe sailboat instead of a car, which started a long love of sailing and racing sailboats.

During Ed's time with P&G, the family spent four years living in Japan and traveling throughout Asia and the Pacific region.

Ed and Martha were huge Cincinnati Bengals fans, and Martha was an almost 50-year season ticket holder. A widow for 30 years, Martha continued the tradition of going to games up to her late 80s. She also continued her amazing travel adventures and trips, sometimes with family or friends and sometimes bravely on her own.

She recently moved to LaGrange to be near her daughter, Sara, who she will always treasure.

The following is by her granddaughter, Maria: "Grandma Martha packed a lot of life into her 90 years on earth. She traveled the world, lived in Japan with her husband (Grandpa Edgar), sailed the world, survived breast cancer, was a special education teacher and fierce advocate for her students, collected beautiful art, ate lots of sushi, (she taught me how good a rainbow roll is), was constantly reading (in a book club for most of her adult life), made strong and delicious cocktails, soaked in the Siesta Key, Florida, sunshine, enjoyed a good ice cream cone, cheered on the Cincinnati Bengals at countless games, entertained countless friends and family, and was never shy to speak her mind. I loved her generous heart, sassy side, and how she valued her independence. She would tell us 'Love you more' every time we saw her. Love YOU more, G-Ma! You are SO missed and SO loved."

Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55th St., Countryside, Illinois.

A Celebration of Life will be at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at the funeral home.

Interment will take place on a future date at Cape County Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Martha's name to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, info-komen.org/goto/Martha_Griffith, or to Cincinnati Bengal players' Sam Hubbard Foundation, samhubbardfoundation.com, which serves to bring equitable access to food, education and a healthy lifestyle to greater Cincinnati children and schools, are greatly appreciated.

Funeral information is available at (708) 352-6500 or www.hjfunerals.com.