Services for Gertie Martens will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at Steen Reformed Church in Steen. The Rev. Dan Ramaker will officiate. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at Roste Funeral Home in Hills. Burial will follow in Eastside Cemetery, rural Steen.Gertie Martens, 81, Hills, died Monday, Dec. 1, 2003, at Luverne Community Hospital in Luverne. Gertie VandenBrink was born to Ceel and Tillie (Stip) VandenBrink on Feb. 10, 1922, in rural Alvord, Iowa. She was raised in the Inwood and Lester, Iowa, area and attended country schools. After the death of her father, she and her siblings had to assume the responsibility of taking care of the farm. She married James Martens on May 9, 1945, at Bethel Reformed Church parsonage in Lester. The couple lived in Oakland, Calif., and moved back to Lester shortly after the war ended. They owned and operated the Martens & Boom Trucking Company until 1956, then moved to rural Steen. Mr. Martens died on Feb. 28, 1986. She continued to live on the farm until moving to Hills in January 1997.Mrs. Martens was a member of Steen Reformed Church. She enjoyed crafts, crocheting, cooking and flower gardening.Survivors include four children, Carole (Roger) Bosch, Bellevue, Neb., Merle Martens, Valley Springs, S.D., Marlys (Steve "Ben") Dirks, Luverne, and Kevin (Coleen) Martens, Steen; 10 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three brothers, Ceel VandenBrink, Alvord, Henry VandenBrink, Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Gerrit VandenBrink, Inwood; and one sister, Cornelia Schouwenburg, Hills. Mrs. Martens was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband, James.Roste Funeral Home, Hills, is in charge of arrangements.
