Lois Arlene (Cropp) Martin

She also deeply loved Aimee (Hanline) Friend as a “bonus” daughter, and her husband Jeff, sons, Travis and Evan, and their granddaughter, Keegan Friend.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James J. Cropp and Alice Mae (Williams) Cropp, and brother, Larry Cropp.

Lois was born in Connellsville, Pa., and moved several times with her parents and three brothers until she entered 10th grade, when they moved to Oakland, where she would spend the rest of her life. She graduated from Southern High School in 1962. Her high school friends welcomed her with open arms, a kind gesture that she never forgot throughout her life. Many of those high school friends reached out to her in her last weeks of her life. She helped plan the class reunions for 63 years.

After high school, she worked at Browning’s Foodland in Oakland. In 1962, she was walking home from work when Harry Martin asked her if she would like a ride home. She was faithfully by his side the rest of her life. They were married on Sept. 12, 1964, and built a life on the farm where Harry was raised.

Lois was a devoted wife and mother. Her family always came first. She worked at Garrett National Bank until they started a family. She was primarily a full-time Mother to all three of her children, but took on part-time jobs at Youthland in the late 1970s. Once they were all in school, she worked at Sandy’s Levi and Lace and Grand Central Station in the 1980s, so that her kids would have the best back to school clothes. She also was secretary at WMSG/WXIE Radio Stations in the 1990s until it was sold. She was hired by Garrett Regional Hospital, where she worked in admissions and credentialing for over 20 years.

Lois was passionate in serving her community as an election judge for many years and then became President of the Garrett County Board of Elections, retiring in 2020.

Lois generously loved her family. She made every Christmas magical and planned annual Easter egg hunts with handwritten notes, and thoroughly enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren walk through the fields with individual baskets from one end of the farm to the other. Of her many qualities, her generous spirit was second to none for the people that she loved. Her favorite hobby was to go shopping and buy them the best gifts she could find. She kept an immaculate home, always creatively decorated for the season with pictures of her family on all of the walls. She made extraordinary scrapbooks for Harry and each of their children and grandchildren that will be keepsakes for the rest of their lives. You could smell her laundry before you entered the back door. She always had a homemade treat ready and a candy dish on a coffee table. She was an amazing cook and has passed on treasured recipes that are priceless. She enjoyed canning peaches, tomatoes, green beans, grape and elderberry jelly and freezing applesauce made from the Yellow Transparent trees on the farm. In later years, she found great enjoyment canning and watching NASCAR races with Harry.

Lois dedicated her life to her family, but her favorite role was being “Nannie” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even in her last weeks of life, they would bring a smile to her face when they entered the room. Our family tree is weeping without her, yet the legacy of love that she has left behind will forever grow in our hearts and will be passed on to the next generation. That was her wish, and we will humbly honor it.

Friends will be received on Saturday, Feb. 8, at Loch Lynn Church of God, 8649 Gorman Road, Oakland, for a viewing from 9-11 a.m. A funeral service will follow at 11 a.m., with Pastors Ivan and Cindy Ackerman officiating. A private interment will follow at the family cemetery on the farm where Lois spent her life with Harry and their family.

In lieu of flowers, Lois requested that any thoughtful gift of sympathy be given in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she witnessed her first great-granddaughter, Fletcher Layne Fazenbaker’s life be saved that ignited Lois’ faith in God.

The C & S Fredlock Funeral Home, P.A., Oakland is honored to be caring for Lois and her family.