MARTI FAYE MITCHELL LEPESKA

MARTHA FAYE MITCHELL "MARTI" LEPESKA, resident of the Cayce Community in Mississippi, homemaker, former glass factory worker and widow of Richard Kenneth Lepeska, Sr., died July 19, 2009 at her residence. She was 81 years of age and died after an extended illness.

Funeral Services for Mrs. Lepeska were conducted be 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 22nd the at Piperton Baptist Church, where she was affiliated, with Rev. Roy Hendrick, Staff Minister for the Central Church in Collierville, officiating. Interment followed in the New Salem Cemetery near her home in the community of Cayce. Arrangements were provided by Peebles Fayette County Funeral Homes-Main Chapel of Somerville.

Mrs. Lepeska was born in Denmark, Mississippi on January 3, 1928 to Franklin Mitchell and Sarah Ellen Fuller Mitchell.

Mrs. Lepeska grew up in the Denmark community of Lafayette County as the youngest of six children. At 16, she moved to Memphis to develop her artistic flare and attend Memphis Academy of Art.

Her creativity continued throughout her life and included her making Bible covers, bird feeders and some of her own clothes, including hats and purses without patterns.

Though she had little formal education, she was skilled at learning through a love of reading and was aided by a mind and attitude that put no limits on her abilities.

Her do-it-yourself building projects included a garage, cabinets for a kitchen and clothing compartments for her daughter's bedroom.

She was an inventor, and even tried to get a patent for an energy-producing device she devised on paper during the Carter administration.

Her problem-solving abilities also showed up in leisure activities. She completed hundreds of crossword puzzles in her lifetime.

She enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and loved tropical plants. She also was well traveled and a witness to history.

She lived in California as a young adult and one evening observed the glow of nuclear testing being conducted in the West.

She later tutored herself in Spanish for a move to Cuba, and during a visit saw Castro's tanks roaming the island before she left for good.

She also traveled a lot after meeting an Air Force ensign, Richard K. "Dick" Lepeska Sr., in Atlanta and marrying him on November 23rd, 1958. One of their most exotic posts was Japan during the Vietnam War, and she self-taught herself some Japanese while there.

Marti and Dick were married over 47 years. He died exactly three years to the month before her in their home on July 9, 2006.

A lifelong animal lover, Mrs. Lepeska occupied herself in later years with her numerous cats, puzzle solving and talking with relatives, including her sisters-in-law and nieces, and friends, including Hospice workers and a longtime neighbor who her helped care for her. She also was delighted with her newest member of the family, son-in-law Richard Wansley.

She touched many more lives than she realized and will be greatly missed.

Mrs. Lepeska is survived by her daughter, Toni Wansley of Barton, Miss.; son Richard Lepeska Jr. of Orlando, Fla., and brothers Otis Mitchell of Jackson, Ga., and Dorris Mitchell of Piperton, Tenn.

Those honored to serve as casket bearers were Richard Wansley, Mike Mitchell, Eddie Sloan, Jessie Sloan, Michael Luckett and Jerry Mitchell.

Otis Mitchell and Dorris Mitchell served as honorary casket bearers.

The family requests that memorials be directed to the Piperton Baptist Church, 205 East Old State Line Drive, Collierville, TN, 38017; Phone: (901) 853-1711.