Martha C. Seibel

Martha C. Seibel (nee Chapman)

Marty was born on November 28, 1928 on the family farm in Kirtland, Ohio to Rose Patchen Chapman and William Herbert Chapman. The farm and land had been in the family for many years, and Marty grew up with a love of the farm animals and especially the kittens who arrived every spring.  She loved the farm with its views of the hills, valleys and innumerable trees as well as the nearby woods down the lane from the house, and talked of it throughout her life.  It instilled in her a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature and the hand of God who created such beauty.  She dedicated much of her free time to capturing this beauty in words through her passion for poetry and visually in her many paintings.

She left the farm to attend Bowling Green State University, where she majored in sociology and psychology. Within her first year, she met her future husband, Ralph Carl Seibel, and they remained a couple, marrying August 5, 1950, honeymooning at Niagara Falls.  Ralph was working his first job in Detroit, where Marty joined him and did clerical work in the office.  A job change took them to Toledo, where they gave birth to their first child, Ralph Chapman Seibel, known as Tad.  From there they moved to the Flint, Michigan area (Davison and then Fenton), where Ralph and a few friends started a packaging business.  Their second son, William Lee Seibel (Bill) was born shortly thereafter.  After both children entered school, Marty discovered her love for teaching as a substitute teacher, a job initially taken to match the kids’ schedule, but she grew to love the variety and became a nearly full time substitute.  Outside of class, she relished the arts, both on her own through her poetry and piano, and with friends singing in the church choir or as a leader of the Fenton Music Club.  She also started working toward her Masters degree in Education at the University of Michigan, nearly completing it before making a move across the Midwest to Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas was a time of change for Marty as her sons grew and moved out on their own; Tad to a new married life soon with two children of his own, and Bill off to school in Boston. Marty spent much of her free time with her new grandchildren Lesley and Ben.  Marty enjoyed the unique beauty of Kansas, especially the rolling grasslands of the Flint Hills, and with Ralph, traveled throughout the western half of the US.  She was particularly struck by the beauty of the deserts and mountains she saw on her several visits to her son Tad, who had moved to Bakersfield, and they became a frequent theme in her painting.  After retiring, Marty and Ralph toured the west several times, proud that they had been to every National Park in the continental US.  Shortly thereafter, they made the decision to leave their many friends from Kansas and move to West Chester, Ohio to be nearer their son, Bill, and his new family.  Marty was again a doting grandmother, sitting often for her grandchildren, Colleen and David, constantly inventing new activities and learning opportunities.   Marty continued many of her passions: piano, painting, choir and poetry, even seeing many of her poems and paintings assembled and published as the book Solstices.

In her most recent years, her health declined considerably and the ravages of dementia stole an ever increasing portion of her memories and her identity. Through her very last days, one memory never faded, that of the day she and Ralph met, a story she told daily to anyone and everyone.  Her love and devotion to Ralph remained untouched after 67 years of marriage.  She passed away quickly and quietly exactly 1 week after her 89th birthday.

Marty found that the changes of life can bring many new friends, experiences and vistas to explore, but they can also bring challenges, sorrows and a sense of loss of the past, which can sometimes shake the foundations of one’s soul. She channeled this complex amalgam of life into her passions, her love of her family, her love of God and nature, her poetry, her painting, her life.  This is the essence by which she will live on through the memories of all who knew her.

Martha was predeceased by her mother, Rose Patchen Chapman; her father, William Herbert Chapman; and her sister Aubree Chapman Brandow. She is survived by her husband, Ralph Carl Seibel, and her son, Ralph Chapman (Tad) Seibel, with his wife, Patricia Padilla Seibel, granddaughter, Lesley Seibel, grandson Benjamin Joel Seibel with his wife, Megan Dickson Seibel, great-grandchildren Calvin Seibel and Milo Seibel; her second son, William Lee Seibel, his wife Menyan Cheng Seibel, grandson, David William Seibel, granddaughter Colleen Elizabeth Finland, husband Maxwell Finland and great-granddaughter Scarlett Finland.

Visitation at Mueller Funeral Home, 6791 Tylersville Road, Mason, OH 45040 on Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 3:00 PM until time of Service at 4:00 PM. Interment will take place on Monday at 1:00 PM in Kirtland South Cemetery, Kirtland, OH.

To send a condolence, visit MuellerfuneralS.com 513-398-9100