Martha Julia Palczewski Martin Stuber was born on Jan. 8, 1929 on the homestead farm of Joseph and Elizabeth Palczewski 13 miles south of Scranton, ND. She was the youngest of nine children. Their home had three rooms and an attic. Martha attended Hammond Grade School and was the only child in her grade. She and her brother, Stanley Palczewski walked four miles each way or rode double on horseback. Martha helped her mother with cleaning, washing, ironing, baking, cooking, garden weeding and milking cows. Life was a struggle on the farm growing up in the 1930s dust bowl era.
Martha graduated from Scranton High School in 1946. Martha acted in all the high school plays, was on the drill team, and played basketball (but not well, according to her.) Martha loved to sing, dance and go to movies. She stayed in a dormitory during the week with three other farm girls and worked part-time cleaning. Marthaâs father drove his truck into town to bring her home to the farm on weekends.