Martha Lammers grew up on a farm in Illinois and later did missionary work in Japan. The latter was especially challenging, coming in the aftermath of two atomic bombs being dropped on Japan and forcing that country to surrender the fight in World War II.
Lammers’ missionary career ended some 34 years ago. That’s given her plenty of time to reflect on a full life that includes reaching an age milestone.
Lammers lives in the Uplands Village Assisted Care facility. On May 2, she turned 100 years old.
Noting that age wasn’t that big a deal when she reached 99, Lammers said she changed her mind as she approached and eventually achieved the century mark.
“It’s nice to live to be 100,” said Lammers, who displays a frequent smile and sharp mind. “It’s not too much of a surprise. My parents lived to be in their 90s. I’m the first in my family to reach 100.”
Family has always been important to Lammers, starting on a farm near Peoria, IL. She was the eldest of three children, and she recalled collecting eggs from a young age and doing lots of gardening.
Lammers’ parents were tenant farmers; they worked different farms in the area. Lammers attended a one-room school, where one teacher taught grades 1-8. Being exposed to more advanced curriculum, Lammers noted, provided her with a tremendous education.
Lammers continued her education, attending three different high schools and having to adjust to more students, many of whom had known each other since grade school.
Helping her transition as the new student were hayrides offered by her parents. “That made me more popular,” Lammers said.
Lammers went to Illinois State with the goal of becoming a teacher. She graduated in 1946 and did practice teaching in advanced math and writing at Illinois State.
Her true calling was mission work, however; she attended a Methodist summer camp when she was 9 or 10 years old and was inspired by a woman who spoke about her mission work.
“It was a call from God,” she said.
That dream became a reality after Lammers, whose name was on file for a slot in the Methodist missionary field, was given a three-year assignment to Japan, which had been on her short list of countries where she wanted to serve.
With the U.S. having just fought a war against Japan, Lammers, who was 25 at the time, said there was a need for healing between the two countries and their people.
Lammers was one of three people from Illinois chosen as missionaries and part of a group of 1,000 men and women from around the country responding to Douglas McArthur’s post-war challenge to join the mission field, promising he could get them there but they would have to bring their own house.
Among those selected for mission work was Dick Lammers from Ohio. He and Martha clicked, and they were both assigned to Japan; Martha was sent to Hiroshima, site of one of the atomic bomb blasts, while Dick went to another area of the country.
They remained in touch and married a year later. The couple had four children who grew up in Japan and considered the country home.
Although they didn’t have to bring their own house, the Lammerses had to build it with materials supplied by the mission board. It helped that Dick was a woodworker. “He did a lot of repair things,” Lammers said.
During the family’s time in Japan, Lammers said they started some churches and schools. She also did some teaching. They likewise planted the seeds of faith among a populace that was mostly non-Christian. “Some seeds took and some didn’t,” Lammers said.
The Lammerses kept on renewing their time in Japan and watched their children grow up. One son married a Japanese woman and started a family. In 1990, after 42 years in Japan, Marge and Dick were ready to retire and move back to the States. The announcement came as a surprise to the locals.
“They thought it was our home,” Lammers said. “They asked what they had done and why we were angry with them to want to leave home. Our legacy was love and helping change the perception of Americans among the Japanese people.”
Marge and Dick moved to Uplands upon the suggestion of a friend and settled into a life outside the mission field. In 2016, after 67 years of marriage, Dick passed away at 90 years old.
Much has changed over the past 100 years.
During her childhood, Lammers said radio was unusual where she lived and they had to crank the phone to make a call. Nowadays, she said she couldn’t get along without the computer in her room and a magnifier that helps mitigate longtime vision problems.
“Technological improvements, in general, I like them,” Lammers said.
What she doesn’t like are continuing wars around the world.
“We thought World War II was the last war,” Lammars said. “That’s the biggest disappointment.”
Lammars is one of four residents at the Uplands who is 100 years old.
Cheryl Heckler, manager of Uplands Village Services, said she has a pleasant disposition and is always hap- py.
“She’s nice to be around,” Heckler said. “Martha gives me inspiration to go with the flow, stay even keeled and go day to day.”
Lammers has gone with the flow for 100 years.
“I’ve had a happy life,” she said. “Love is the key to longevity.”