Visitation for Martha Haigh will be at the Henry Olson Funeral Home in Estherville, on Friday Nov. 8 from 5-7 p.m with a time of sharing at 6:30 p.m. There will be a funeral Mass at St Patrick's Church in Estherville, on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m. Martha will be inurned in St Patrick's Cemetery in Estherville. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Emmet County Animal Shelter in Martha's memory.
Martha Ann (Boggess) Haigh was born Jan. 7, 1947, in Estherville, Iowa, the daughter of Nolan and Lena (Schaper) Boggess. She died Oct. 27, 2019, at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., at the age of 72.
After graduating from the Estherville public high school, Martha lived in California for a short time but returned to Estherville. She worked at Sears until they closed in 1982. She worked at Pepsi for many years but left to work for Rohlin Construction and then Hallet Materials until she had to leave working for health reasons.
On Sept. 21, 1985, Martha married Benjamin Haigh, the retiring high school band instructor. Ben often played in many local music groups in the area but was best known for the group "Ken and Ben" with Ken Vandersloot. Ben also played with the Little Joe Polka Band from Jackson, Minn. One of Martha's greatest joys was to travel with him and "the guys" when they performed and truly enjoyed the music. She also loved traveling to Arizona twice with Ben when he entertained there in the winter.
Martha had many fond memories of a trip she took with fellow members of St. Patrick's church to Israel, Greece, Rome, France, Germany and Austria. She spoke of it often. After she married Ben, she had several cats but her favorite was Ivan, a kitten that Ben rescued and brought home to her. She was sad that she could no longer have a cat when she left her house and moved to the Good Samaritan apartments while Ben was a resident at Good Sam. She became the family cat sitter until October of 2018 when she became a resident of Good Sam herself. Martha enjoyed knitting most of her life and made many beautiful afghans, baby blankets and other items for friends and family members. She was an excellent baker and made the best cookies, bars and muffins.
Martha is survived by three sisters Mary Ellen (Garry) Sicard of Estherville, Maureen Haisman of Vinton, IA, and Marlene (Larry ) Walthart of Estherville; five brothers Larry (Jan ) Boggess of Colorado Springs, CO, George (Linda ) Boggess of Omaha, NE, John Boggess of Winder, GA, William Boggess of Estherville, and Steven (Janeen ) Boggess of Carver, MN. She is survived by 16 nieces and nephews and many Schaper and Boggess cousins.
Martha was preceded in death by her husband Ben Haigh who died Dec. 23, 2014, Ben's daughter Kathy, her nephew Larry Lee Boggess and her parents Nolan and Lena Boggess.
Martha was an organ and tissue donor and chose to be cremated.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.henryolsonfuneral.com
