Geraldine Martin

Geraldine Agnes Little Martin, 86, of Chicora died at 1:53 a.m. Thursday at the VNA Inpatient Hospice, Butler.

Born in Chest Springs on Aug. 4, 1926, she was the daughter of Earl Little and Mabel Conrad Little.

She was baptized in St. Monica Church, Chest Springs, where she was a member and where she attended St. Monica Elementary School, grades one through eight. She was a graduate of Patton High School.

She received her training as a registered nurse from Mercy Hospital in Johnstown. She was licensed as a registered nurse in New York as well as Pennsylvania.

As an RN, she worked at Mercy Hospital in Johnstown, Benedictine Hospital in Kingston, N.Y., and as a private duty nurse in Kingston and Saugerties, N.Y. Her greatest work was raising her six children.

Geraldine was a member of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, North Oakland, Chicora, and a member of the Christian Mothers. Prior to that, she was a member of the St. Mary of the Snow Altar Rosary Society and the St. Mary of the Snow Sodality in Saugerties.

Her hobbies included sewing, gardening, bird watching and square dancing.

She and her husband enjoyed square dancing and were members of the Frogtown Squares of PA and the Lefooters Square Dance Club of Hurley, N.Y.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Warren A. Martin, who she married on July 16, 1949. He died Jan. 28, 2012.

She is survived by her daughters, Suzanne Colon and her husband, Ralph, of Brooksville, Fla., Deborah Moreau and her husband, Marcel, of Bellevue, Neb., and Rebecca Shoemaker and her husband, Daniel, of Mars; her sons, Michael Martin and his wife, Kathryn, of Roswell, Ga., Brian Martin and his wife, Debra, of Mechanicsville, N.Y., and Stephen Martin and his wife, Veronica, of Warner Robins, Ga.; 15 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; her sisters, Lucille Hoover and her husband, Leonard, of Patton and Carole Hite and her husband, Leroy, of Gallitzen; and her brothers, Regis Paul Little and his wife, Sally, of Patton and Robert Little and his wife, Sally, of Sharpsburg, Md.

She was preceded in death by an infant son, Gary Martin; and two brothers, Darrell Little and Ralph Little.

MARTIN — Friends of Geraldine Agnes Little Martin, who died Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, will be received from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the STEIGHNER FUNERAL HOME, 111 E. Slippery Rock and Main streets, Chicora. A celebration of life will be held with a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. Saturday at Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church, North Oakland, Chicora, with the Rev. Harry R. Bielewicz and the Rev. Joseph Pudichery officiating. Interment will immediately follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, North Oakland, Chicora.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the VNA Inpatient Hospice, 115 Technology Dr., Butler, PA 16001.For directions, information and to extend condolences to her family, go to www.steighnerfuneralhome.com.