Martha Ann (Verhoff) Berheide

Martha Ann (Verhoff) Berheide

  KALIDA - Martha Ann (Verhoff) Berheide, age 90, passed away Monday, November 28, 2022 at the Meadows of Kalida, surrounded by her family.

  Martha Ann was born on the family farm north of Kalida on September 28, 1932, to the late August and Eleanora (Westbeld) Verhoff. She was the youngest of their nine children. Her siblings included four brothers: Oscar (Leona), Norbert (Dorothy), Wilbur (Pat) and Paul Verhoff; and four sisters, with whom she made mischief well into their senior years: Mildred (William) Inkrott, Florence (Francis) Schumacher, Alice (Robert) Croy and Dorothy (Norman) Von der Embse. Martha Ann is survived by her sister, Dorothy, and sister-in-law, Pat Verhoff.

  Martha Ann graduated from Kalida High School in 1950, along with her future husband, Charles Berheide. Martha Ann and Charlie got married on October 17, 1953. They bought a fixer-upper on the edge of town along the Ottawa River and happily lived there together for over 50 years.  Charlie passed away on February 20, 2005.

  Martha Ann and Charlie raised five children: Michael (Becky) Berheide, Berea, KY, Kent (Sara) Berheide, Convoy,  Brian (Bev) Berheide, Kalida,  Mary Beth (Steve) Weisenburger, Continental,  and Lynn (Bill) Greber, Celina. Also surviving are 13 grandchildren: Brian (Lauren) Berheide, John Berheide, Emily (Chris) Plescher, Adam (Sarah) Berheide, Curtis (Rose) Weisenburger, Kim (Brant) Kahle, Erin (Damon) Schmidt, Leah (Andrew) Krouse, Anna (Nate Rump) Berheide, Hannah Berheide, Ben Greber, Julia Greber and Haley Owsley; and 10 great-grandchildren:  Miles, Henry, Lydia and Peter Berheide, Mason and Jayce Plescher, Theo and Eliza Schmidt, Xavier Berheide, Everett Kahle and one on the way.  Martha Ann loved being a mother and grandmother, and had she written down her stories, she would have rivaled Erma Bombeck in parenting wit and wisdom. 

  Martha Ann worked as the Village of Kalida’s water department clerk for many years and retired from the Union Bank in Kalida.  She was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church, its Altar Rosary Society and the choir. Martha Ann was active in the Kalida Fire Ladies and treasured her friends’ monthly mothers “Club.” She was well-read and well-traveled, enjoyed art and nature, and was a student of the Bluffton University Institute for Learning in Retirement program for a decade. She had a passion for putting her faith in action, serving as a volunteer at The Meadows of Kalida, the Putnam County Food Pantry and the Catholic ministry program to the “Men in Blue” at the Allen Correctional Institute.

  Martha Ann’s funeral mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 2, 2022 at St. Michael Catholic Church, Kalida with Fr. Nathan Bockrath officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Visitation will be 2 – 8 p.m. on Thursday with a scripture service beginning at 1:45 p.m. at LOVE-HEITMEYER FUNERAL HOME, Jackson Township.  

  In lieu of flowers, Martha Ann requested memorial contributions be made to her favorite charities: The Maryknoll Missions, Putnam County Habitat for Humanity, or the Christian Appalachian Project.

  Condolences may be expressed at www.lovefuneralhome.com.