Martha A. Gorden, 93, of Cambridge, died Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010, in Moline at the home of her daughter, Lynn. Funeral services were held Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the Cambridge Lutheran Church. The Rev. Dawn Keenan and the Rev. Dr. Mark Gehrke officiated. Burial was in Rosedale Cemetery, Cambridge. Visitation was held one hour prior to the service at the church. Stackhouse-Moore Funeral Services, Cambridge, was in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made to the Cambridge Senior Citizens, the University of Illinois Aces Home Extension, or the Cambridge Lutheran Church.

She was born Aug. 5, 1916, in Mendon, the daughter of Harold K. and Jennie C. (Shriver) Schaffer. She graduated from Mendon High School in 1934, and received her bachelor’s degree in home economics from the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1940. She married Emery J. Gorden Feb. 20, 1944, in Geneseo. He died Sept. 26, 1969. The couple had lived and farmed in the Galva and Cambridge area and she had lived on the farm in Munson Township for 59 years. In her earlier years, she had worked for the USDA in Lewistown and Kewanee. She had also worked in the dietary department of Hillcrest Home, rural Geneseo, and was also a full time mom. Her memberships included the Cambridge Lutheran Church, the WELCA group of the church, the Henry County Farm Bureau, the American Association of University Women, and the Henry County Senior Citizens. She enjoyed her family, collecting four leaf clovers, reading and University of Illinois activities. She was a realistic Chicago Cubs fan and she liked to listen to Orion Samuelson’s agriculture report on the radio in the morning.

Survivors include a stepson, Donald (Linda) Gorden of Kewanee; children, Alice Daughtery (Norman Stenzel) of Champaign, Richard Gorden of Elkhart, Ind., Lynn (Larry) Rounds of Moline, Arlan (Mary Beth) Gorden of Leoti, Kan., Robert Gorden of Waukee, Iowa, and Betty (Mike) Weis of Madison, S.D.; grandchildren, Tamara, Marcia, Donnie, Deanna, Dawn, Brandon, Robin, Michelle, Julie, Angie, Jessica, Rhonda, Becky, Jenny, Karen, Cathy, Aaron and Pete; numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and special friends, Anita Gorden, John Swiger, Gordy Wislander and Ruth Taylor. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a brother and three sisters.