Martha Jo

Schubert

Martha Jo Birdwell Schubert died peacefully in the predawn hours of Aug. 27, 2020, one day before her 88th birthday.

Martha was a loving and accomplished mother of two. She was the third oldest of six children born to Roy Alexander and Nettie (Phelan), a poor cotton farmer and his wife, in the Texas Panhandle in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression. As the oldest daughter, she had a significant role in raising her younger siblings and was seen as an anchor of the family.

She graduated from high school in the small community of Hedley in 1949 and quickly began her professional life. She met and married her first husband in Snyder in 1951 and raised her family in Lubbock, Odessa and Midland before settling near her daughter in Sweetwater after retiring from her job as office manager at Enron in 1992.

Martha is survived by her son, David Birdwell, and his wife, Linda Boles, of Santa Fe, NM; her daughter, Carol Birdwell Abernathy, and her husband, Mike, of Sweetwater; a brother, Alvin Alexander, and his wife, Brenda, of Hurricane, Utah; a sister, Patsy Lesley, of Houston; and numerous nephews and nieces.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Emmett Buck Birdwell, who passed in 1962, and her second husband, Billy Gaymon Schubert, who died in 2010. Two brothers -- R.H. Alexander and Billy Alexander -- and a sister, Bonnie Lesley, also have passed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to an Alzheimer's charity or organization.

A private family graveside will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at Sweetwater Cemetery.