Memorial

Martha L. Gericke (Miller) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa passed away on September 12th at Klein Center in West Burlington.

Born June 6, 1932, in Waterloo, she was the daughter of Chester & Beulah (Byerly) Miller.  She graduated from Franklin High School in 1950.  She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Iowa & later in Elementary Education from Upper Iowa University.  On September 13, 1953, she married Vernon Gericke of Postville at the First Congregational Church.

While attending Cornell during her Freshman year, she met Vernon on a blind date, and it was love at first sight.  She ended up transferring to Iowa and graduated from there with a bachelor’s degree in 1954.  Upon graduation, Marty moved to Burlington and then Postville where Vernon practiced law for 8 years.  While there, she attained a bachelors in Elementary Education.  They later moved back to Cedar Rapids where she taught 1st grade at Hayes Elementary and later Hiawatha Elementary.  She loved teaching and retired after 23 years in the classroom. 

Marty was very fond of traveling, especially with her family.  When they would go camping, her favorite memory was when they threw out some Chinese food and they woke up finding that skunks had come to their campsite to eat it.  Besides camping, Marty and Vernon went on 7 cruises around the world (Europe, Panama Canal and Alaska being her favorites) and one trip she would always talk about was a train trip across Canada with her teacher friends. While not traveling, Marty and Vernon were in a bridge club for over 25 years where they would host games, oftentimes playing her favorite music; Ragtime & New Orleans Jazz.  

Marty was very fond of dogs and would enjoy not only receiving pictures of her great grandkids but also her great granddogs. When visiting Marty, it was easy to see outside of her love for her family, her love of Teddy Bears, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Football.  Marty had a collection of over 80 bears that she was proud to show to anyone who came over (and could tell you every bear's name and who gave them).  She would also attend or watch as many Iowa games as possible and in the fall, you always knew what Marty was watching every weekend.  She also always had a smile on her face, even more so when she visited her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Marty is survived by her daughters Sue (Steven) Rogers of Danville, Karen (Lynn) Bainter of Fort Myers; grandchildren Michael (Samantha), Scot, Courtney (James) and Allie; great-grandchildren Zoey, Jaxon, Ember and Caleb, niece Laurel.

She is preceded in death by her husband, parents, and several cousins.

Funeral service will be at Cedar Memorial on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 2:00 pm.  Interment will be at Cedar Memorial Cemetery.

Memorials may be made in Marty’s name to St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids.  

A livestream of the funeral service may be accessed on the funeral home website under the obituary for Martha L. Gericke, under the video tab starting at 2:00 PM on Thursday, September 24, 2026.