Martha Ann Neal

Martha Ann “M.A.” Ashcraft Kahle Neal, 89, of Washington, died on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, peacefully in her sleep, snug in her warm bed, at home.  She had battled a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was born on February 24, 1930, in Monongahela, a daughter of the late Harry John and Nellie Sickels Ashcaft. Martha was a 1947 graduate of Monongahela High School.  She was driven to learn, and had a love for art, so she enrolled in, and graduated from, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. In 1948, she married Donald Foster Kahle.  Following his discharge from the United States Navy, Martha and Don embarked on the first of over 64 moves, to places all over the world, due to his career in offshore drilling.  While living in London, Martha graduated from the Royal Horticultural School of London.  She also attended the Queen’s Garden Party, by private invitation, and met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.  The Prince exclaimed about her extraordinary beauty, which of course was one of her all-time favorite stories. Following Donald’s unexpected death on July 1, 1976, in Wassenaar, Netherlands, Martha packed up the family, and moved back to the United States. Realizing she was on her own, with two young children, she went back to school, enrolling in Computer Tech, where she went on to graduate top of her class.  She often joked that her classmates were all young enough to be her children.  Following graduation, she worked at the Enchanted Village, in South Hills Village, selling Apple Computers.  She then worked, and became the top Apple Computer salesperson for Mace Electronics. In her “spare time”, throughout all her travels, she pursued one of her passions, painting.  She sat in art museums all over the world, with her easel and oil paints, recreating great works of art.  She also had art studios set up in each home, where she spent hours creating paintings of her children, and scenes from whatever place she was living in at that time. Martha spent years taking her daughter Sheri to ice dancing competitions, late night practices, and creating, making and beading Sheri’s and her partner’s skating outfits.  She was the President of the Pittsburgh Figure Skating Club, and was Chairperson of the 1983 National Figure Skating Championships in Pittsburgh. In the early 1980’s, she met a handsome, distinguished funeral director on a blind date.  Both were skeptical of meeting the other, but shouldn’t have been.  On October 18, 1986, in Fourth Presbyterian Church, with children and stepchildren as attendants, Martha married William G. Neal, Jr. During her marriage to Bill, Martha worked at the funeral home that he had built from the ground up, the William G. Neal Funeral Homes.  She mostly did the computer programming for the company, but she also assisted with the Aftercare and Grief Support Programs. Martha persuaded Bill, who had never been on vacation, to join her on a cruise.  They never looked back, cruising to exotic ports all over the world.     Martha also worked tirelessly on another passion, genealogy, for many years, culminating in a 730-page hardbound book that she published in 1987, The Ashcraft Family, Descendants of Daniel.  As part of the publishing contract, she was required to purchase 10,000 books.  This caused much eye-rolling and laughter on her part, and she proclaimed that we could have a large bonfire with the thousands of books left over at the end.  She couldn’t have predicted it, but her book continues to sell on Amazon to this day, and after 5 sales last week, she has only two books left! As evidenced in her best-selling book, family was absolutely everything to her, and she spent her whole life doing everything in her power to do for, and be with them. Among her many interests and talents, Martha was a member of MENSA, an organization for people with high IQ’s, and Daughters of the American Revolution, and enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, bird watching, gardening, listening to Jazz at Al an’ Ruben’s Restaurant and eating dinner with the Solomon’s Restaurant dinner group. Martha loved spending time with her daughter Sheri, and Sheri with her.  Martha, Bill and Sheri went on cruises and to dinner, and Martha and Sheri spent many hours talking about any and every subject. Her name was rarely mentioned without the word "classy."  She exuded class, compassion and generosity.  This world is a lesser place without her in it. The care she received from her incredibly kind and compassionate caregivers from the Caring Mission (Ruth, Sherri, Tina, Kelley and Leolia), was beyond comparison.  They often said that it "felt like home" when they were at her house.  Her love for them, and their love for her helped make her last difficult years as happy, and as pain free as was possible. Martha's daughter Sheri, thanks the Caring Mission, and Martha's caregivers from the bottom of her heart. Her second husband, William G. Neal, Jr., died on April 5, 2014.  Surviving are two sons, Robert Wayne (Claire) Kahle, of Midland, TX, and Gary Michael (Theresa) Kahle, of Dormont; a daughter, Sheri Kathleen Kahle, of McMurray; two stepsons, William G. (Debra) Neal, III, of Washington and Michael P. Neal, of Washington; a stepdaughter, Stacey N. (Gary) Snook, of Hagerstown, MD; a brother, George (Cathy Glad) Ashcraft, of New Eagle; a sister, Jane Necciai, of Monongahela; seven grandchildren, Donald “Adam” Kahle, Noelle Elizabeth Ann Kahle, William G. "G.W." Neal, IV, Sara E. (Matt) Geiger, Courtney R. Crouch, Ricky A. Williams and Alecia Eakin; eleven great grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; and her sweet grand dog, Lucy. Deceased are two sisters, Harriet Pippert and Marion Legler; a stepdaughter, Karen Sue Neal; and a grandson, Ronald J. Lyle, III. Friends will be received on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m., in the William G. Neal Funeral Homes, Ltd., 925 Allison Ave., Washington, PA 15301, where additional visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m., the time of services, with Pastor Gary Gibson officiating. Burial will follow in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.