Martha Luby van Cleve, 91, died Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, in St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
She was born June 9, 1920, in Cairo, Illinois, the daughter of the late John and Anna Creagan Luby.
She was a registered nurse before her retirement and was the former director of nursing at St. Mary’s Hospital in Cairo and was the first coordinator of the nursing program at Shawnee College in Ullin, IL.
She received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Loyola University and was a veteran of World War II, serving as a nurse in the Pacific at the rank of lieutenant junior grade in the U.S. Navy. She was retired from the U.S. Naval Reserves. She was member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Cairo.
She was preceded in death by her husband Thomas van Cleve in 1995; two brothers, Joseph and Edward Luby; and her sister, Kathleen Luby SSND.
Mrs. van Cleve is survived by two sons, John (Donette) van Cleve of Wickliffe, KY, and Tom van Cleve (Bruce Stahly) of Grand Marais, MN; her daughter, Joan (Rick) Ball of Cobden, IL; her sister, Anne Duncan of Cape Girardeau, MO; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and other relatives.
Funeral Mass was celebrated at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 24 in St. Patrick’s Church in Cairo. The Reverend John Agbasiere and the Reverend Jerome Fortenberry officiated. Interment was in Calvary Cemetery in Villa Ridge, IL. Military Honors were provided by local veterans’ organizations and the U.S. Navy.
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