Martha Kuhn
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Martha Rigby Pond Kuhn, age 92, died on September 2nd at her home in Boise surrounded by her family.
She was born May 24, 1927 in Idaho Falls to Parley and Margaret Moseley Rigby.
She attended Riverside Grade School, O.E. Bell Junior High, and graduated from Idaho Falls High in 1945.
She attended the University of Idaho, graduating in 1949. She is a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and served as Chapter President her Senior year. Following graduation, she taught at Nampa Junior High for one year. She returned to Idaho Falls and worked in a local bank as a secretary and teller.
On November 3, 1951 she married Robert Pond in Idaho Falls. They spent three years in Logan, Utah, where they owned and operated the Logan Credit Bureau. This was long before computers. They returned to Idaho Falls where he was in business and she was a homemaker. In the early 1960's Martha served on the executive committee of a non-profit corporation that managed Harbor House (a temporary home for neglected and abandoned children). She and Bob were divorced in 1971.
In the late 1960's she began taking courses at Idaho State in library science. The Idaho State Library Association awarded her a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Oklahoma in 1970 for additional library certification. She then served as school librarian at both O.E. Bell Jr. High and Idaho Falls High School.
On September 25, 1976, she was married to Calvin L. Kuhn. They made their home in Pocatello, then Boise. He died in Boise on June 27, 1979. Beginning in 1983, she made Boise her permanent home.
Writing has always been one of Martha's loves. During high school and college she wrote for the school newspaper and was a member of both yearbook staffs. Before her father died, she wrote a history of her Grandfather, William F. Rigby, (for whom the town of Rigby, Idaho was named) and his family which was published and sold to members of his extended family. In later years, she wrote the story of her travels to University of Idaho on the "Student Special" train from Pocatello to Moscow in the fall of 1945. This story was published in 2008 in the Annual Journal of Latah County Historical Society.
When Idaho Senator Frank Church passed away, he left his papers to the BSU library and in 1994, the Archivist was looking for volunteers to process all the documents. During the next 3 years, Martha volunteered to do the archiving and found many letters from her father to Senator Church from the 1960's that she herself had typed!
She was preceded in death by her brother William F. Rigby. Survivors include her children: Peggy Jo Jones of Boise, Virginia (Paul) Farkas of Eugene, Oregon, and Fred (Cherie) Pond of Lake Oswego, Oregon. Also, five grandchildren: Ben (Alicia) Farkas of Seattle, Washington, Kevin (Jessica) Farkas of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Rachel (Michael) Phillips of Portland, Oregon, Natalie Pond of Seattle, Washington and Allison Pond of Newport Beach, California. She has three great grandsons: Caden and Connor Farkas of Seattle, and Julian Farkas of Abu Dhabi.
The family would like to thank St. Luke's Hospice for their special care of Mom, especially Kayla, Athena and Jennifer.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Eisinger Gamma Phi Scholarship at the University of Idaho. Please make checks to University of Idaho Foundation and indicate in the memory of Martha Kuhn and send to: University of Idaho Foundation, 875 Perimeter Dr., MS 3143, Moscow, ID 83844-3143.
At her request, there will be no funeral. The family will meet with friends for a Celebration of Life in Boise on Friday, September 27, 2019 from 4-7 p.m. at the Stonehouse, 709 E. Park Blvd., Boise 83712.
Burial will take place at Rose Hill Cemetery, in Idaho Falls under the direction of Alden-Waggoner Funeral Home in Boise. Friends and family from the Idaho Falls area are welcome to attend on Saturday, September 7 at 11:30 a.m.