Martha Jane Spillman (Jones)

Martha Jane Jones Spillman, 95, died at home on Saturday, January 10, 2015. She was born on March 15, 1919 in Jacksonville, IL, the only child of Levi Chandler Jones and Pearl Anna Meyer Jones. After her family moved to nearby Beardstown, she graduated from high school there and pursued her higher education at Graceland College, Lamoni, IA, and the University of Iowa where she majored in dietetics. She took her professional dietitian internship in Denver, CO during which she met her husband, Thomas H. Spillman, a sailor recovering from injuries received when his ship was sunk during W.W. II. After their marriage in 1945, they relocated back to Iowa where Tom also enrolled in Graceland College. They made their home in Lamoni for the next 40 years during which Martha was employed by the Iowa Department of Health and was responsible for inspecting food preparation and storage conditions for hospitals and nursing homes in the southern third of Iowa. Following their retirement they moved to Independence, MO in 1985, from which they traveled widely in their RV. Martha and Tom were active in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ) in the Parkview Congregation in Blue Springs and most recently in the Grain Valley Congregation. Her husband of 61 years, Tom, preceded her in death in 2007. She is survived by her daughter, Jane Hrabak and her husband, David, of Belle Plaine, IA, and grandsons, Eric (Amy Dallash), Cameron (Angie), and Evan (Jodi), and six great-grandchildren. Visitation at the Grain Valley Community of Christ, 9:00 a.m., Saturday, January 17, 2015. Services at 10 a.m. Interment in Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, IA, Saturday afternoon. Online condolences may be expressed at www.speakschapel.com (Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel 816-373-3600.