Marti Raith

Martha left this world on June 21, 2025 to spend eternity in Heaven with her Savior after a courageous fight with dementia staying positive and happy the whole time. Marti was born July 3,1938 in the NW suburbs of Chicago the second daughter of pre-WW1 Germanic area Immigrants Herman and Erna (Muhle) Christof, something she was very proud of.

In the mid 40’s the family made a big change and moved to a dairy farm in the Paw Paw & Bloomingdale area. Life on the farm was so much different than Chicago and Marti was always busy helping her parents with day-to-day struggles. She and her sister did find time to have fun now and then and family from Chicago came to visit often.

Marti attended Bloomingdale Schools and Graduated in 1957 before continuing on to WMU to possibly become a teacher. While at WMU she worked for many restaurants in Kalamazoo including Schwarz’s Chicken Charlie’s, but what she loved to talk about most was her time employed at Gilmore Brothers Department store. She loved it there.

College didn’t seem to be Marti’s thing so after a bit she changed course. She gained employment with Sutherland/KVP mostly working on the glue lines, something she talked about until the end. At KVP, Marti met her future husband and love of her life, Franklin. She loved that his family was also of German background and that he would pick her up on Sundays for church. Frank and Marti Married on April 11, 1964 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Paw Paw and were together for almost 60 years.

Marti and Frank moved a few times, eventually settling in a modest home with a beautiful yard they could expand and improve on with their growing family. Marti quit her job at KVP to become a full-time mother and housewife and did a lot with babysitting and helping at the local schools when her children were growing up. Marti and Frank had three children: Franklin Jr, Therese, and Cathy, and enjoyed so many things as a family such as camping trips, vacations, and spending time with family and friends.

God was always the center of her life and Marti was very active at her home parish of St. Joseph’s in Kalamazoo. She was on the Parish counsel and active with teaching kids in the CCD classes. In the late 70’s and early 80’s Marti went through a big change in her journey of faith and left the Catholic church to seek more of a relationship with God in the non-denominational churches, traveling and trying a few until she eventually settled on her spiritual home with Restoration Life Church in Battle Creek where she gained a loving and tight-knit church family. Although Frank stayed with St. Joseph’s and wasn’t always happy with her choice to leave the Catholic Church, she and Frank would attend each other’s services often and had so many friends from both their church families.

After her children grew older and Frank retired, they traveled a lot in their motor home taking along both Frank’s mom and their first granddaughter, Chelsea Raith. They loved to go up north and to Wisconsin to see family and friends and did it often. Marti and Frank volunteered for the church’s taking communion to patients at the local hospitals. They enjoyed the people.

Marti had a pretty enjoyable life and was happy and outgoing almost always. She loved to draw, paint, and work around the house and in her yard and garden. Marti and Frank’s growing and extended family were very close and they enjoyed yearly family trips to places including Frankenmuth for the Bavarian Festival, the Summer Polka Fest, and eventually settling on the Frankenmuth Oktoberfest which was a yearly family weekend for almost 20 years.

Marti could not get enough of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who along with her children were her reason for living. She just loved them so much. When Frank passed away in January of 2022 things were not the same, but she always had a smile on her face and hardly complained about anything just enjoying the time she had with family. She made one final trip to Frankenmuth with her extended family where she danced half the night on the dance floor just enjoying herself and loving the German food and her fun-loving Polka music.

Marti was proceeded in death by her husband, Franklin Sr.; her parents, and her sister, Rose. Marti’s daughter Therese passed away from pancreatic cancer in February of 2025, and because of her dementia Marti wasn’t even aware of it. This would have just devastated her. Marti’s surviving family will miss her terribly, but have the joy in their hearts from all the great memories. She is survived by her son, Frank Jr., and her daughter, Cathy (Rich) Harger; also her son-in-law, Mark Ouding; her granddaughters: Chelsea Raith (Dillon Adams) and Emily Ouding; her grandson, Josh (Belle) Raith; 2 great-grandson’s: Carter Raith and Leland Adams; and her amazing caregiver and friend for the last year Carol Hess.

A Life Story Funeral will be held Thursday, June 26, at 12 PM at Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes, 6080 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo (269) 375-2900. A reception will follow with burial at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Celebrate Marti’s life online by sharing favorite stories and photos on her dedicated webpage at BetzlerLifeStory.com. Memorial donations may be made to Restoration Life Church or Milestone Senior Services.