Date of Birth: May 30, 1932
Date of Death: February 18, 2023
Martii (Marlene) Wallahan (Counters) died at home on February 18, 2023, at 90. She was the daughter of Alfred Curtis and Eleanor Wallahan, born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. She graduated from Rapid City High School and received an A.A. from South Dakota State University in Brookings. She was married to William Clegg from 1950-1972. She married the love of her life, Dick Counters, in 1974 and again in 1989. She would tell you she didn’t accomplish much, but in her immortal words, that’s BS. She raised three accomplished, creative, hardworking and loving children in Minneapolis, MN. She supported her family running her own business from 1984 to 1998. In retirement, she served as a volunteer and state coordinator for English Springer Rescue America and Springer Spaniel Rescue, Inc. She rescued hundreds of springers and “failed fostering” too many times to count. Although she had owned springers since 1947, the love of her life was Sir Tater, her last failed foster. For 13 years, he never left her side until he went to the rainbow bridge in May 2022. She was classy, sassy and tough. Her cardiologist called her “feisty.” Shenanigans with her best friend, Jeanette, from garden clubs to art shows, are legendary. She loved her friends from Rapid City and fellow secretarial service owner Annie. She quit smoking cold turkey the day her husband, Dick, had heart surgery. When her cardiologist told her at age 88 that sugar was evil, the woman with two stomachs – one for food and one for desserts – gave up chocolate. As a secretarial service owner and resume writer, she never refused work. She started using a TRS-80 with 8” floppy disks, and graduated to a HUGE 20-megabyte hard drive. If she didn’t know how to do it, she’d figure it out. A skill passed onto all her children. She loved cruising, shopping, scrapbooking and sewing. She hosted countless holidays and family gatherings but loved Christmas the most. A flocked Christmas tree and the 100+ Christmas houses were her favorites. Her music preferences ranged from Bon Jovi to Barry Manilow. Friends of her kids were known to wake her and her husband up for a heart-to-heart in the middle of the night. She is survived by her children Al (Linda Gambell) Clegg (Ontario, Canada), Debi Clegg, and Lisa Counters of Phoenix, her grandsons Kevin and Aidan, “honorary” daughters Pam Lindly and Mary Jean Zinniel and honorary granddaughters Lexi and Sam, and her beloved Springer Spaniels Olive, Sassii and Winston. She is also survived by her sister-in-law Mary Jane Wallahan, niece Kim Wallahan and nephew, Jim Barber of Branson, MO.
Service Information
No Service scheduled
Contributions
Please make donations in her honor to English Springer Rescue America (https://englishspringerrescueamerica3.wildapricot.org/widget/Donate) or Springer Spaniel Rescue, Inc. (https://www.springerspanielrescue.org/donate)