Martha Berquist Phillips

  After high school I worked as a private secretary in Worcester until Benjamin and I were married October 1951. Ben and I were pen pals when I was in high school and he was in Korea. After assignments in the United States and a second tour in Germany, we settled in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, he was ordered to Vietnam. He became due for R&R, and I traveled to meet him in Hawaii. At a California airport I learned that he had been killed on his last duty before he was to meet me, just ten months before he would have been eligible for retirement.

It was a devastating time. I went to college, but I could not make up my mind what to do. So I quit and became a Licensed Practical Nurse. I had always wanted to be a nurse, so my jobs were rewarding. I also "collected" houses. One I built (with others), doing nailing, taping and bedding Sheetrock, hanging insulation, and a lot of other things I had no knowledge of. Another house I bought at auction by mistake (a long story), and worked three months of twelve-hour days to get it ready to rent.

At present, I am a realtor and own six houses. I have been very active in the Order of Eastern Star, serving as Grand Representative of California; it has given me a chance to travel to California, Montana, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Two years ago I visited my son who was working in Korea.