Martha Lee Matthews Rauch was born November 2, 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and passed from this earth at the age of 95, on December 11, 2016, in Tulsa, after a brief illness. She was a native Tulsan and 1939 graduate of Tulsa Central High School.

She was an active member of Holy Family Cathedral where she was the first female Eucharistic minister and was involved in various other church groups. She was the daughter of Alton James Matthews, Sr. and Ruth Ann Matthews and had one brother, Alton James Matthews, Jr.

Martha owned and operated the tropical fish store in downtown Tulsa and worked in china and crystal as a bridal consultant for Brown Dunkin, John A. Brown and Dillard's at Woodland Hills for over 35 years. During this time period, she was known as the "butterfly lady" as she always wore a butterfly pin on her back shoulder. Some customers, thinking the butterfly was real, would swat her back in an attempt to drive it away.  She would often demonstrate the strength of bone china by letting a plate fall to the ground and standing on it; only once in her entire career did the plate break.  She sometimes made guest appearances on Tulsa radio shows and spoke to the sororities at the University of Tulsa on formal dinnerware etiquette.

She loved Broadway musicals and especially country and gospel music. She first started goin to Branson, Missouri when there were only two theaters and one restaurant in town.  She celebrated her 90th birthday in Branson, where she was kissed by Daniel O'Donnell and serenaded by the Lennon Sisters.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Fred Albert Rauch, and her brother, Alton James Matthews, Jr. She is survived by: her four sons, James F. Rauch (Veronica), of Silver Spring, Maryland, Phillip L. Rauch, of Livonia, Michigan, Dr. William J. Rauch (Norene), of Silver Spring, Maryland, and John M. Rauch, of Tulsa; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; six grand-kitties; and her beloved dogs, Bogey and Chico.

Visitation will be from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM and a Remembrance will be from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM on Thursday, December 15, 2016, at Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 14th and South Boulder Avenue, Tulsa.  Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 AM, Friday, December 16th, at Holy Family Cathedral, 8th and South Boulder Avenue.  Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, under the direction of Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151.
FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL, 918-585-1151