Obituary: Martha "Marty" Bath Whitely

A memorial service for Martha "Marty" Bath Whitely, 88, a Carson City native and member of a pioneer family, will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Walton's Funeral Home. A small gathering of friends and family will follow at "The House."

Mrs. Whitely died April 2, 2000, at her home. She was born Feb. 22, 1912, to Ernest and Dora Doty Bath. Her father, Ernest, had been an engineer for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and later retired as postmaster of Carson City. Her mother, Dora, was an outstanding church member and leading community member.

Mrs. Whitely's ancestors arrived in Eagle Valley with the Mormons and camped where the Capitol is located now. They later founded the Bath Ranch, then north of Carson City, remembered in the name of Bath Street.

Mrs. Whitely attended both grade and secondary schools in Carson City, graduating from the old Carson High School on Division Street in 1930.

She and her husband, Wellesley, moved to Susanville, Calif., to start a family. and run a family business, Whitely's Furniture. After 20 years, she and her husband returned to Carson City where she worked for the Nevada State Children's Home, followed by the Nevada Department of Prisons. In the last 20 years, she also ran a rooming house for women, a position she inherited from her mother. She was dedicated to helping others.

She was a member of the Episcopal Church.

She was preceded in death by a son, Wellesley "Sonny."

Among her survivors are her daughter, Janis Whitely Ross and son-in-law John Tom Ross of Carson City; grandchildren; Marla Ann Ross of Portland, Ore., Thomas Whitely Ross of Las Vegas, Cynthia Ross of Reno and John R. Ross of Washington, D.C. and three nieces and two nephews.

Walton's Chapel of the Valley, Crematory and Cemetery, is in charge of arrangements.