Martha Ellen Mumford

Martha Ellen Mumford, devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who was a 60-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star, died peacefully in her sleep Aug. 22 in Davis, California surrounded by loving family members. She was 94.

Mrs. Mumford was born Martha Ellen Foster on May 9, 1918 in Knifley, Kentucky, the second of four children born to James Franklin, a factory worker employed for many years at a Proctor & Gamble roofing tile company, and Elizabeth Valentine Foster. The family lived most of her young life in a suburb of
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Growing up in the Great Depression, Mrs. Mumford later recalled the many hardships the family faced as her parents struggled to provide basic
necessities, like food and clothing for the growing family. She attended local schools, excelled at her studies and received notice for her athletic ability and oratory skills.

When World War II broke out, she moved to California and took a job as a "Rosie the Riveter" – helping to assemble sections of the famed P-38 Lightning fighter-bomber at a Lockheed plant in Burbank. Ultimately, more than 10,000 of the fearsome P-38s rolled off the assembly line and saw extensive action in Europe and the Pacific. It was a great source of personal pride that she was promoted to inspector of rivet work during her time at Lockheed.

After the war she met Richard Harlan Mumford of Glendale while attending the First Methodist Church of Glendale, and the couple was later wed. They lived for a time in Trona, California when Mr. Mumford was a chemist at American Potash & Chemical Corp. The family later moved to Long Beach and then settled in Glendale, where the couple raised four children. Her husband, who worked for many years as a teacher and social worker, and was a 50-year member of the Glendale Masonic Lodge, passed away in 2005.

She was a worthy matron of the Glendale Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, Deputy Grand Matron and a Grand Representative to Saskatchewan in the 1970s. She was well known for the countless hours she devoted to helping prepare dinners for events at the Glendale Masonic Lodge.

Mrs. Mumford loved life, loved family and loved to travel. She and her husband, often joined by family members, went on many cruises to scenic locales, including Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She also loved traditions. Every year since 1940 she gathered with family and friends for a birthday dinner at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. The 2012 gathering included four generations of family and was a day filled with love and laughter. She moved to Davis, California in 2011 to live with one of her daughters but remained active, going on day trips with family and organized through the Davis Senior Center.

Her husband and her son Richard W. Mumford, preceded her in death. She is survived by daughters Patricia Robinson of Long Beach, California; Beverly Starleaf of Burbank, California; Adrienne Snyder of Davis, California; nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

There will be a visitation at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale on Friday, September 7, 2012 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Services will be at the Wee Kirk o'the Heather church at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 1:30 p.m.