Martha Pauline Lyons, Navy Wife and Mother of six children.

Martha Lyons died in her sleep at the Saratoga Retirement Community Skilled Nursing facility in Saratoga, CA early the morning of Sunday June 5 ^th , 2022.  She was 96 years of age.

Marty, as she was called, was born on September 9 ^th , 1925 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the only child of Gretchen Simmerling Melstrand and Carl Ferdinand Melstrand. Born into a Roman Catholic family she was baptized on September 20 ^th 1925 at Holy Rosary Church in Milwaukee. She was a practicing Catholic her whole life and was part of the reason her eventual husband became a convert to Catholicism. She attended Washburn High School in Minneapolis. Then she attended the University of Minnesota and was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority. She graduated on December 20 ^th 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her time at the U of M she unfortunately lost both of her parent to natural causes. She married John Thomas Lyons Jr, called Bud, of St Paul, MN on December 29 ^th , 1945.

Her husband, was a Naval ROTC student at the U of M, graduating and being commissioned as an Ensign in February 1944. He was immediately assigned to USS Argonne AG-31 in the Pacific where he served as the Gunnery Officer until the end of WW II. He was also a veteran of Korea and Vietnam. He retired from the Navy at the rank of Captain. He and Martha had completed 30 years of faithful service to the country, both in war and peace.  During the Navy years they had six children and Martha spent these years raising the family, often with John gone.

With the nest beginning to empty, Martha earned a Master's Degree in Library Science graduating from the University of Maryland on August 25, 1972. John was transferred to the west coast for his final Navy tour and just before Christmas of 1972, they moved into the home they bought in Costa Mesa, CA. This home was the center of family activities for 34 years. Martha went to work as an Orange County, CA librarian in June 1974. She became Head Librarian of the Mesa Verde Branch Library in June 1976, transitioning to part time in June 1985. John, her husband of 61 years, passed away in December 2006. The following November she moved into the Saratoga Retirement Community.

She is survived by her six children: John T. Lyons III, Susan Gardner, Kevin Lyons, Ruth Lyons, Shane Lyons, and Laurie Kelm as well as nine grandchildren and two step grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren.

She will be interred at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, CA in a Columbarium Niche with her husband, John, on September 23, 2022.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society at https://www.nmcrs.org/donate.