Wanda Mae (Moseley) Mann Martin was born February 22, 1940 in Borger, Texas to Coy Elmo Moseley and Laura Mae (Early). Soon the young family moved to Arlington, Texas where her father Coy ran his ditch digging company, laying pipe all the way up Highway 287 and into Oklahoma and New Mexico. Wanda remembered riding with her father every night as he lit the smudge pots for highway flares along 287 north.
Wanda went to school in Arlington, and attended Arlington State College and met Richard William Mann. Richard Mann was born at the Miner’s Hospital and attended High School in Raton, and worked at the Sunshine Dairy in Raton, as well as La Mesa Park Racetrack and the V-7 Ranch. Wanda and Richard were soon married, and within two years, were expecting their firstborn, Richard Lee Mann. Two years later, pregnant with her soon-to-be daughter, Karla K. Mann, Wanda went on maternity leave from Pan American Petroleum Company in Ft. Worth, Texas, where she worked as a Stenographer in the Accounting Department and the Land and Geology Department. At the end of her last day, Wanda waited at the corner of 7th and Main Street in Fort Worth, Texas for her husband Richard to drive her home, but he never showed up.
He was killed in a car wreck on his way to pick up his beloved wife for her maternity leave.
That same morning, their two-year-old son, Rick, had fallen and fractured his skull and when Wanda finally reached the hospital, the same doctor who had treated her son that morning, pronounced her husband dead that same evening.
Guided by the love of her parents, Wanda was also lifted up by her late husband’s grandmother, Nina Alethea (Reading) Mann Barber, of Raton, New Mexico.
Grandma Barber, as she was well-known in Raton, was like a mother to her and Richard, and, even though she was heartbroken over Richard’s death, Grandma Barber encouraged Wanda to date again.
On March 1st, 1965, Wanda went to work as a Stenographer at Bell Helicopter in Ft. Worth, Texas, where a handsome fellow who also worked at Bell Helicopter (but in the engineering and Test Department), asked a friend about her.
That friend relayed the message to Wanda, but she replied that she couldn’t even THINK of dating again until at least a year after her husband’s death.
One year and one day later, Pete John Martin asked Wanda out on a date – a date that included her two young children, Rick and Karla K. They kept their dating relationship a secret from co-workers, and two years later, were married and when Rick and Karla were older, their step-father, Pete Martin, officially adopted them as his own.
Wanda and Pete worked their entire careers at Bell, with Wanda working her way up from Stenographer to become the Executive Secretary for the Vice President of Bell Helicopter.
A gentleman friend of Wanda’s later told her daughter Karla that the men at Bell Helicopter all adored Wanda. He said her nickname among them was “Legs” ! He said that every single morning they lined up along her path with their coffee, just to watch her walk through the building to her office.
Wanda retired from Bell Helicopter 28 years later – on the very same day that Pete retired, and together they traveled the world, and enjoyed their three acres and huge garden, and spoiling their grandchildren in Rendon, Texas.
Wanda was an incredible woman. She worked full time, cooked dinner every night, washed and ironed the family’s clothes, did exquisite embroidery and toile painting, and still made time with Pete to be the PTA President, the president of the Mansfield High School Band Parents Club, and even President of the Air Force Academy Parents Club after her son, Rick was accepted into the Air Force Academy.
Rick was the first graduate of Mansfield High School in Texas to be accepted to the Air Force Academy.
Rick went on to fly F-16 Fighter jets, and spent seven years overseas fighting for our country- even having to eject out of his F-16 on one mission and he went on to become a Brigadier General in the Air Force, with his last assignment before retiring as Commander of the Colorado National Guard.
As you can imagine, Wanda was so proud.
She often told her children Rick and Karla K. how lucky they were that they had TWO fathers who loved and adored them.
Years after her husband Pete died on October 10, 2011, Wanda was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and began to fail.
She moved to the Beehive Living Facility in Raton, where she became fast friends with fellow resident Oscar Nauta, who regaled her with stories of being in the Navy and driving LCVP’s (landing craft vehicle-personnel) in WWII and with stories of working at the Sunshine Dairy in Raton.
Wanda later moved on to the Trinidad Inn Rehabilitation and Nursing Home in Trinidad, Colorado, where she peacefully passed away on January 11, 2026, with her children by her side.
Wanda is survived by: Her son – Brigadier General Richard Lee Martin and wife, Roseann of Castle Rock, Colorado, Her daughter – 2010 Texas State Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton of Raton, New Mexico and husband Stan Morton of Ft. Worth, Texas.
She is also survived by grandson Matthew Morton and wife Kelsey (who are expecting their first baby in April), of San Antonio, Texas, granddaughter Kathryn Kay (Morton) Raulston and husband Adam in Beaverton, Oregon, grandson Kevin Martin in San Francisco, and grandson David Martin of Denver, Colorado.
Wanda is also survived by her brother Alvin Moseley and wife Martha of Arlington, Texas, nephew Rob Moseley, his wife Teresa and their daughter Harlee Alexander and son Dylan Alexander, wife Makenzie, and baby Sutton; and nephew Andy Moseley and son Aidan.
The service for Wanda Mae (Moseley) Mann Martin will be held February 4th, 2026 at the Dallas Ft. Worth Military National Cemetery outside Dallas, Texas, where Wanda will be laid to rest next to Pete.
The family wishes to thank all those at the Comi Funeral Home, and also, their endless thanks go out to the Beehive of Raton, and the Trinidad Inn Nursing Home in Trinidad, Colorado.
They do SO much for all our loved ones, and we are forever grateful.
