Elizabeth Martindale

Elizabeth Peace Martindale, 75, of Blum, received her wings June 19, 2018 at THR Walls Regional Hospital in Cleburne, surrounded by family and the sound of Louis Armstrong’s When the Saints Go Marching In playing in the background.
A celebration of life will be held at 3:00 P.M., Saturday, June 23, 2018 at Crosier-Pearson Cleburne Chapel. Visitation will be from 2-3:00 P.M., Saturday, prior to the service.
She was born January 28, 1943 in McAllen, Texas to Jean and Raymond Peace. She was the eldest of seven children. She had two children, Jennifer Peace Allen and Stephen Don Mulder. She moved to Blum, Texas in 1986 when she answered a newspaper ad for a reading teacher. She married Otis Don “Donnie” Martindale of Blum on February 19, 1989 and was blessed with bonus children Heather, Heath, and Holly Martindale.
She was a non-denominational Christian, although she did identify once as a “Jesus-sonian” during a jury selection, which promptly served its purpose of getting her dismissed. Her family does not recall her ever receiving another jury summons. She attended many different churches over the course of her life. Her favorites were always the African American services – “the music was always better”. She lived a very adventurous life breaking horses, working for NASA, running a dairy with three younger brothers at age 13, hanging out with the likes of Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and survived being hit by a train while in a car. She held a Bachelor’s degree and was a school teacher of various grades for almost 20 years in Texas and Arkansas until she retired…and then substitute taught for years after. She was always inspired by her students and made it her mission to try and inspire them. She helped coach the Blum FFA Band to Nationals two years in a row – a highlight in her life. She never parted with anything. While looking for pictures and items for the service, the family never found a book they were looking for, but found her daughter’s Speak-N-Spell from the 2nd grade, graduation announcements for former students, every bill she ever received from as far back as the 90s, and letters back home from 1965.
She was a singer/songwriter with varied musical taste and she played in a variety of bands. She enjoyed traveling and spending time with friends and family. She loved gardening and animals. She never met a stranger and she always smiled with her eyes. After you met her once, you were sure to get text messages or Facebook posts with weather reports, cautionary travel advisories, and news updates on an almost daily basis. They would typically go something like this, “Oh, you’re going to Yellowstone? There were 5 bear attacks there last week”. “Going to Galveston? There is a huge fish kill!”. “Going to Las Vegas? Watch out for the one-armed bandits – a guy lost all his money there a few days ago”. We will now find ourselves wondering what season to prepare for or where it is safe to travel. Facebook opened a whole new world for her when she finally figured out LOL meant Laughing Out Loud and NOT Lots of Love after posting LOL on the death of someone she knew.
She is survived by her husband Donnie Martindale; six siblings, Mark, Mike, Cindy, Robert, Chris, and Tracy; daughter, Jennifer and husband Chris Allen of Blum (grandchildren, Kaleigh, Reagan, Brendan, and Gracelyn); son, Stephen and wife Alisha Mulder of Blum (grandchildren, Madison and Caiden); daughter, Heather and husband Jason Fisk of Teague (grandchildren, Brionna, Hannah, Blake, Brooke, and Conner, and great grandsons, Greyson and Jaxson); son, Heath Martindale of Blum; daughter, Holly Dunn of Teague (grandchildren Ty, Tobey, Zoe, Iralynn, and Asher; and great grandson, Hagen); numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends she considered family. She was preceded in death by her parents; father-in-law, Otis Lee Martindale; mother-in-law, Mary Jo Martindale; a grandson, Andy Allen; and a great-grandchild, Eden Benson.
Chris Allen, you still owe her those horse blankets and laying hens, by the way.
Love you more! Peace out! We win!!!
In lieu of food and flowers, the family respectfully requests that you make a donation to a charity of your choice in Elizabeth’s name as she loved helping others.