Martha Sandvig Carson

SAN ANTONIO, TX - Martha Sandvig Carson, age 93, formerly of Forest City, presently residing in San Antonio, TX, died Monday, March 14, 2011 at the age of 93 years.

Funeral service will be held at 1:30 PM on Friday, March 18, 2011 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City with Pastor Bill Peters officiating.Visitation will be held from 12 Noon until time of service at the church. Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery in Forest City.

Martha Sandvig Carson was born on a farm near Thor, Iowa on June 1, 1917. She was the seventh of nine children of Jens and Emily (Maage) Sandvig. Jens was a Norwegian immigrant and Emily was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants. Martha graduated from Webster City High School in 1936. She attended Waldorf College in 1936 and 1937. In December 1937, she was hired by Waldorf College as bookkeeper. On February 22, 1944 Martha was married to David H. Carson at Ullensvang Lutheran Church in Thor, Iowa. Together they lived on and farmed the family farm northwest of Forest City, Iowa where they raised their two children, Paul and Kathy. In 1968 Paul married Joyce Colby and made plans to farm with David and Martha, however Paul's death in Viet Nam in 1970 profoundly changed the family's life journey.
Martha returned to work in the Development Office at Waldorf College from 1969 to 1981. Martha and David retired in 1981 and moved to Forest City while at the same time Kathy, Breck and Joshua (and later Elly) moved onto the family farm. After retiring, Martha worked as the treasurer for the Winnebago County Republican Party for several years. Martha was an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church since coming to Forest City. In 2007, Martha moved to Onalaska, Wisconsin to be with her daughter and son-in-law. Martha died on March 14 at 93 years of age.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Breck McHan of San Antonio, Texas; her grandchildren, Joshua and Megan McHan of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Rev. Elizabeth McHan of Jerusalem; her daughter-in-law Joyce & Noel Holtan of Forest City, Iowa and their children and grandchildren, Kevin & Lisa Holtan and son Kyle; Brad & Kristen Holtan and daughter Avery; Ryan & Kayla Holtan; one brother and two sisters-in-law; Arthur & Mary Sandvig and Delphian Sandvig, three brothers-in-law and their spouses; John & Nita Carson, Caroll & Janell Carson and James & Mary Carson; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Jens and Emily Sandvig, her husband, David Carson, her son, Paul Carson, and her siblings, Louise (Albert Gunderson, Cliff) Larson, Edith (Elmer) Saboe, Irene (Bert) Norem, Bertha Sandvig, Judith (Delmar) Hill, Stanley (Faye) Sandvig, and John Sandvig.

Memorial gifts for the memory of Martha and given to the family will be directed to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and to the Holy Land Libraries Project, which was instituted through the work of Martha's granddaughter, Rev. Elly McHan, who is presently serving as a missionary to this church body and who presently resides in Jerusalem. To read about this project go to www.elcjhl.org and click on "Support Our Ministries" on the left panel, then select ELCJHL Libraries Project.