Martha E. (Wall) Roper, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, born on October 16, 1947 in Carrizozo, New Mexico, to the late Ellen Juanita (Shelton) Casaus and the late Hulon Avon Wall, passed into her Lord’s presence at age 70 on July 1, 2018 in Sacramento, California. Martha married Jim (James E.) March 28, 1969. She was preceded in death by her sister Nelda Faye Reynolds (1951), her sister Elizabeth Kaye Reynolds (1995), her brother, Steven Clarence Wayne Casaus (1999); and sister Charlotte Ann… Read More » McKinley (2009); her grandmother, Maudie Ellen (Redfern) Shelton; and grandfather, Luther Warren (Bill) Shelton.
Martha is survived by her husband Jim; daughters, Dawn Denise (Dee Dee) Morris-Roper and Dina Diane Dennis (husband: Dan); brother, William Andrew Casaus; and grandchildren, Makayla Dawn Dennis, Nathan James Dennis, and Bailey Kathleen Dennis. When Martha came into the world she immediately faced challenges: blinded in one eye before age one (caused by careless adult activity), fatherless, and poor. However, she left this world of family and friends a richer place, endowed with a legacy of love.
She attributed any good coming from her life to what God did for her through Jesus Christ. At eighteen years old, seven months pregnant, in a fractured marriage that wouldn’t last another year, Martha listened to a young pastor, Jerry V. Gary and his wife Alma. They told her of God’s great love for her and all people.
Martha believed God’s love, trusted in Jesus Christ, and her life was changed. That day went into her perpetual calendar: April 12, 1966. Then as wife, mother, grandmother, friend, co-worker, and mentor: every day of Martha’s life became a day of expressing God’s love to the people God placed in her life.
Whether at work doing bookkeeping or at play watching her children and grandchildren grow, she loved people as God loved her. As a way of life, she blessed others with God’s love through her life. She always had a ready ear to listen and a ready heart to respond to the needs of others.
Something Martha often said, “Bless your heart,” became part of her persona. It came naturally from her because it was what she did! She blessed people’s hearts and lives.
Whether at home or at work Martha endeavored to make life more pleasant for everyone. She loved to decorate for special events. She arranged birthday remembrances and special day surprises for family, bosses, and co-workers alike.
She loved to cook, and bake, and to have a party for any reason. Martha’s calendars were always filled with notes reminding her of special days in the lives of all the people in her life. But her love did not stop when she left the office, or the meeting, or when the party was over.
Her love continued as she brought before God, the needs of all the people she loved. If you were a family member, an acquaintance a friend, boss or co-worker: your name is written in one of the many prayer journal entries she made from the 1970s to present day. More importantly, your name was spoken from Martha’s lips to God’s heart, because she prayed for you.
Martha’s last prayer journal entry, June 20, 2018 was for herself. She knew her remaining life was short. “Lord, I gave you my life 52 years ago – but ashamedly, I did so little for you and your Kingdom.
There is much to do still. Help me to use the time I have left, wisely, for You”. God did.
And she did. ____________ Friends and family are welcome to attend a celebration of life service, officiated by Michael Roberson, on Friday, August 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, 11427 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Fair Oaks, California, 95628. A meal will be served at 12:00 p.m. following the service.
All family and friends are invited.
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