Anita Marie Best was born on August 2nd, 1938, the daughter of Russel and Sylvia Best, who resided at 7551 Maple street in Omaha. At the time of her birth, Anita had two older brothers, Leonard LeRoy and Owen Harley. Three years later Ralph Oscar arrived on the scene. Having three brothers, Anita grew up to be some what of a tom boy. Anita’s father grew up on a farm, and they had a large back yard. Sometimes they had quite a menagerie in their back yard, rabbits, chickens, geese, and at one time a couple of pigs, and a big garden. Anita had a couple of uncles that farmed, and Anita always enjoyed going to their farms to see all the farm animals, and also to see and play with her may cousins.
When Anita was growing up, her parents owned and ran a restaurant in Omaha, and Anita helped out as a soda jerk and dish washer. Maybe that was the reason she never liked to wash dishes.
Anita attended grade school at Adams School a few blocks from her home. After grade school, Anita attended and graduated from Omaha Technical High School at 30th and Cummings in 1956. Anita did not plan on going to college, so she took business courses planning on being a secretary. The year of her graduation, Anita was too young to get a job, so she had to wait until the next year to find a job.
Anita first job was at Peter Kiewit’s as a secretary, then she went to Omaha Mutual and became a key punch operator, and later a key punch supervisor at Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. During this time Anita had married, had a daughter, Cynthia Marie, and was divorced. Anita continued to work at Physicians Mutual until 1967.
Anita said after her first marriage failure, she would never marry again. In the fall of 1966 at a young adult church group, she changed her mind. One night there was young fellow that came in to join the group. The next year on July 29, 1967, she was married to the love of her life for the next 52 plus years, Roger Dean McMartin, and moved to Oakland to become a farm wife.
Everyone wondered how a city girl from Omaha could move to the farm. With all the connections to farming, that was not that big of a transition. In the following years, she fit in very well on the farm. She liked to do vegetable gardening, she liked her flowers, so had many flower gardens to take care of. With a big vegetable garden, she did a lot of canning with the fruits of her labor. She always had time to go help Roger in whatever he might need help with, from helping sorting hogs and cattle, making hay, to walking beans. During Cindy’s school years, Anita attended and supported all of Cindy’s many activities in Church, school and 4-H. Anita made a lot of Cindy’s clothes while she was going to school.
Anita taught Sunday school a number of years, also helping with Vacation Bible school. Anita was active in the Belknap Farm Bureau Women’s Group, also the East Pottawattamie County Women’s Chairman for a number of years.
During the 1980 Farm Crisis, Anita started back to work. She was a secretary in the Displaced Homemaker Department at Iowa Western Community College.
After she left the College, she went to work for the Council Bluffs School’s, as a para-educator for behavior disorder students. She retired from the Council Bluffs schools after 19 years, in 2004, to become a farm wife again. After she retired, she spent her time trying to finish some of the many craft projects she had started before she started back to work again the 1980. Anita had many different hobbies and many collections. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Anita died March 20, 2020 at the Oakland Manor Nursing Home in Oakland. She had attained the age of 81 years, 7 months, and 18 days.
Anita is survived by her Husband, Roger McMartin; her daughter Cynthia (Cindy) Marie Schwab and husband Bob; grandchildren, Diane Marie Mitchell, Danielle Louise Gallaher and husband Brent, and Robert Ryan Dean Ward; and her great grandchildren Zephyr Mitchell, Willow Rose Marie, who is the fourth generation of Marie as her middle name, and Xilus Ward Alan Gallaher. Anita also leaves behind her brothers Owen and Ralph, along with the other many friends.
A private burial will be held at this time. A memorial service will be held at a later date. An open visitation will be held at the Rieken Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland on Monday from 1-7 PM. The funeral home is following CDC guidelines, and there will be a limited amount of people (10 or less), allowed in the funeral home at one time.
