Martha Ruth (Sutter) Hyler was surprised but pleased by all the attention she received this past Saturday when dozens of family members and friends gathered to celebrate her 90th birthday.

Five generations were represented at the celebration that was held very appropriately in the Huntoon Hill Grange. Hyler has been a faithful member of the Grange for 75 years and counting!

The common room was colorfully decorated for the occasion that went from noon to 4 p.m. Surrounding the birthday cake were many photographs of her loved ones, including a vintage family portrait taken in black and white.

Hyler was born Martha Ruth Humason Aug. 21, 1925, in Alna. Her parents were William E. and Susie B. Humason. For many years, “Bill” as her father was known, drove a school bus for the Wiscasset School Dept. The Humasons are also remembered for selling fresh vegetables from the garden alongside their home.

Martha grew up in Alna and attended the West Alna School with her three sisters, Grace, Barbara, and Helen, along with her brother, William, and half-brother Robert. The historic school, second oldest in Maine, closed its doors in 1962.

As a young woman, she moved to New Hampshire where her sister Barbara lived. It was here in the Granite State that Martha met and married her first husband, Howard Norman Langer, in 1945. They had a son, William Arthur Langer in 1946. William Langer died that same year. Son, William A. Langer, died in January 2014.

Following the death of her husband, Martha returned to Alna with her baby, where she met John B. Sutter of Wiscasset. They married in 1948 and soon settled in Wiscasset at the former Sutter homestead off Chewonki Road. They later moved to Lee Street and finally to a farmhouse on Dickinson Road. Together they had six children: Judith, Evelyn, Sally, Joan, John II and Ken. Many years later, the Sutters separated and were divorced. 

John Sutter remarried and moved to Woolwich. He died in 2011 at age 97. During World War II he served in United States Navy and was stationed in the Philippines. For many years, he was a rural mail carrier for the Wiscasset Post Office. (He actually met Martha while delivering the mail.) He was active in the Masons, the Shriners, the American Legion and Grange.

Martha remarried in 1983 to Kenneth Hyler. The couple moved to Cushing, but after Kenneth died in 2001, Martha returned to Wiscasset.

Martha has stayed very busy over the years. Along with managing the household, she worked in a shoe factory, a fish factory and as a seamstress. She still enjoys knitting, crocheting and baking. She has 16 grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter.

Along with being a member of the Grange, Martha belongs to the Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Bradford-Sortwell-Wright Post 54 of the American Legion. She’s also a regular attendee of ladies group at the Wiscasset Senior Center.

Special thanks to Sally Doray-Wentworth for help in providing information for this article.