Martha Braby Gill

Martha Braby Gill Obituary  - For those who would like to join the service remoting you may use this link:  https://zoom.us/j/95858290080 

Martha Braby Gill, age 93, passed away peacefully June 27th, 2024. Martha was born in Wesleyville, Pennsylvania on June 16th, 1931, to Paul Bond Braby and Bessie Clegg. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities in 1953 and a teaching certificate from the School of Education in 1954. At Cal, she met and married her sweetheart, Leo Samuel Gill, in the Los Angeles LDS Temple on June 18, 1956. Leo and Martha raised their 4 children in the San Francisco Bay Area in El Cerrito before retiring and settling in San Diego.

Martha’s father was in charge of the installation of the gun firing mechanisms for naval ships during World War II. So, for the first seven years of her life, she moved about every three months. She had a couple of health scares early in life – battling pneumonia at age 2 and rheumatic fever at age 11. She was confined to bed for a year and a half with the latter. She met Leo at the institute at UC Berkeley when she was in charge of the Lambda Delta Sigma initiation. Leo was giving one of the talks and he did not follow the prepared script. That was probably the first of the “Oh Leo!” comments. She taught elementary school in Piedmont, California after graduation and then she and Leo were married in June of 1956 while his naval ship was in port. Unfortunately, she got viral pneumonia on her honeymoon and ended up in the hospital in Rawlings, Wyoming as they were traveling back east where his ship was stationed. 

Martha was always one who looked for ways to bless the lives of others. She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many positions including Relief Society president, Primary president, pianist, and early morning seminary instructor. She touched many lives wherever she lived and served. She and Leo served four missions for the Church – in Guam, the Laie, Hawaii Temple Visitor Center, the London Temple, and as FamilySearch missionaries. She also served for many years in the San Diego temple and loved doing family history, indexing hundreds of thousands of records. 

Martha enjoyed traveling with Leo and her family – and also cruising with her sister Carolyn and her cousins. She cherished the time spent with family and went to great lengths and expenses to plan cruises and reunions to get them together. She loved her raspberries which were carefully transported from the Bay Area to San Diego. She loved watching the hummingbirds that would visit her feeders. 

She loved doing jigsaw and all kinds of puzzles, crocheting and knitting – making thousands of hats to donate, traveling – especially cruises in cool weather to scenic places, doing things for others, shopping on QVC - helping to keep them in business with her doll collection and holiday decorations, doing family history, watching figure skating and gymnastics, camping, reading her scriptures, spending time with grandkids, watching her favorite sports teams with her family, and sharing her garden produce with others. She was great at remembering birthdays, holidays, and other events – and was always very generous to all. She loved God and is a great example of our Lord, Jesus Christ. She was loved by all who interacted with her. 

Leo and Martha moved into Villa Lorena Assisted Living Community nearly two years ago. The family is very grateful for the loving care they both received and the great friends they made who live there. We are also grateful to her dear, angel friends who visited her faithfully during this past difficult year. Her brother Paul called her frequently and was a huge support to her and the family.  We are so thankful that Martha can now be with Leo again.

She was preceded in death, by her dear husband Leo thirteen months ago. She is survived by her four children and their spouses Linda (Kevin) Bessey, David (Denise) Gill, Steven (Adriane) Gill, and Thomas (Kathleen) Gill; 17 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel at 12835 Black Mountain Road, San Diego, CA, 92129 on Friday, July 12th at 9AM. She will be buried at the Miramar National Cemetery next to her husband. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Church’s Humanitarian fund at: give.ChurchofJesusChrist.org/humanitarian-aid.