Martha Eve (Douglass) Spindler

Martha Eve Spindler (Douglass) age 89 passed away on Sunday December 8, 2024, at her home on Lake Bemidji, surrounded by her family. She will always be loved and never forgotten by those who were lucky enough to have known her.

A woman of reserved elegance and unparallel compassion, Martha was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, friend and nurse who gave of herself without hesitation. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015, she bravely fought the disease as it took her memories, mental capacity, mobility and finally, her life. She will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at Greenwood Cemetery in Bemidji in the spring.

A chance encounter at the Bemidji Town & Country Club while vacationing at her uncle’s cabin on Lake Bemidji led to a long-distance courtship and her marriage to Keith Spindler in 1962 at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, MO. A summer resident since 1967 (when they bought a cabin down the beach from her uncle’s), Bemidji became her permanent residence in 1991 following Keith’s retirement.

She is survived by her daughters Evonne Spindler (Aeron) of Bemidji and Eva Keiser (Jack) of Minneapolis and grandsons Douglass and James Keiser. She was proceeded in death by her devoted husband Keith, parents William O. and Eva Douglass, stepmother Eileen and brother James. Throughout her life, she quietly carried the grief of her mother’s passing in 1938 and the death of her brother in 1962.

Born in Springfield, MO on September 4, 1935, Martha moved to St. Louis at the age of two. After graduating from Normandy High School in 1953, she followed her brother to the University of Missouri-Columbia and earned a nursing degree in 1957. She continued her education with courses toward a master’s degree.

During her nursing career, she worked in a variety of roles including as a supervisor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Bethany Hospital in Thief River Falls, MN and Memorial Hospital in Belleville, IL. In 1982, she transitioned into teaching nursing courses at Belleville Area College.  After moving to Bemidji, she was an inspector with the Minnesota Department of Health until retirement in 2002.

Naturally inquisitive, Martha constantly sought out new experiences and knowledge – asking questions and taking classes in karate, tai chi, soapstone carving, loam weaving and more. She researched her ancestry long before it became digital, becoming a registered Daughter of the American Revolution in 1976. An accomplished knitter and needleworker, she was always something complicated and fabulous, earning numerous ribbons from the Beltrami County Fair and the Minnesota State Fair.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Red Cross or the Alzheimer’s Association.

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