Obituary of Martha C. Darter

Martha C. Darter “Ga” (80) longtime St. Maries, ID resident passed away at her home on September 30, 2020. She was born to Frank and Clementine Condell in El Dorado, Kansas on August 14, 1940. Martha grew up on Dellford Ranch where she was involved in raising and showing registered Hereford cattle. She graduated from El Dorado High School with the class of 1957. Following high school, Martha attended St. Stephens College, a private women's school in Missouri, for a year before enrolling in Kansas State University where she earned Bachelor's Degrees in both English and Zoology. Martha met Don at a local county fair and rodeo in Kansas in 1959. The couple married on August 20th, 1960 and later moved to Quapaw, OK, where their daughter Jodi was born. Martha and Don both taught and coached in Douglass, KS and in Quapaw. In 1968, the family decided to travel west in search of teaching jobs; they landed in St. Maries and fell in love with the area. Martha originally wanted to teach biology at the high school, but Mr. Cummings got the job by moving to St. Maries a month before the Darters, so Martha was “stuck” teaching English, a job that became her passion. Martha, along with her dear friend and co-teacher Miriam Foster, wrote the Basic English program and Honors English program for sophomores, juniors, and seniors at SMHS. They also wrote the Applied English program for seniors which was highlighted by Northwest Regional Labs. She taught for decades and there are generations of former students who have benefited from her expertise, her teaching style, and her love of learning. Jodi followed in her mother's footsteps and also became a teacher. Martha retired from teaching at St. Maries High School in 2000. With encouragement from her sister, Susan, Martha published a book for Jodi to use for curriculum, called Grammar - the Write Connection. She was an accomplished golfer and won numerous trophies and tournaments, but mainly just loved to golf with her side-kick Marj Welch. Martha so loved her sisters Susan and Nancy and was able to travel several times to Scotland with Nancy and one trip which included the three of them. Martha was also an extremely talented artist as well as an avid reader. Her grandson Jesse was the light of her life. She loved her son-in-law Bunky, and in her eyes, he was beyond reproach. Martha and her daughter Jodi were inseparable. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Richard, and her husband of fifty-seven years, Don “Pa” Darter. Martha is survived by her daughter Jodi and son in-law Ken “Bunky” Schiermeister, and her beloved grandson Jesse. She is also survived by her sisters Susan (Sam) Stone of Tulsa, OK and Nancy (Robert) McWhorter of Longmont, CO; niece Sara (Steve) Finch of Hawketsville, NY; nephews Gavin (Jaymi) McWhorter of Greeley, CO and Colin (Marcy) McWhorter of Orlando, FL; and her treasured Schiermeister and Brebner family and much-loved Staci “Mae” Truscott. The family has been blessed by all the messages and correspondence from friends, former students, and those who loved her so much. There have been hundreds of testimonials of how she impacted people's lives through her teaching, her artwork, her extraordinary intelligence, her delightful sense of humor,and her positive, selfless personality. A celebration of life will be held at the Eagles Lodge in St. Maries on Friday, October 9, 2020 at 4:00 pm.