Marietta B. Wihl

Marietta B. Wihl died peacefully on October 20, 2013 at the age of 90 in Albuquerque. She was born in Capitan, NM on October 6, 1923, the daughter of Margaret Renner Bigger and Samuel Bigger. Marietta's husband of 56 years, Louis J. Wihl, and her two brothers, Robert Bigger and Gordon Bigger, passed before her. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Kurt and Annette Wihl; grandchildren, Patrick Wihl, Abby Winek and husband Mark, and Tobias L. Martinez; and her niece and nephew, Bobbie and Casey Bigger. Marietta, known as "Ma" to Louie and Kurt and "sis" to her brothers, grew up on a homestead north of Capitan and began school early when her parents allowed her to ride a horse to school with her older brother, Bob. Following her high school graduation at age 16, she had to wait to attend nursing school at Hotel Dieu in El Paso, TX where she received her license as a registered nurse. Upon graduation, she began her career as a nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Albuquerque, working as a surgical, and later a surgical recovery nurse. At the VA, she cared for veterans who served in the Spanish American War through Vietnam. She also worked at various hospitals throughout Arizona, Nevada, California, and Oregon before her retirement in 1978. Upon retirement, she volunteered in the pharmacy at the VA. Marietta loved her family, nursing, traveling, the Lakers, riding and betting on fast horses, and baking from recipes handed down by her mother. Memorial services will be held Sunday, October 27, 2013, 2:00 p.m., at FRENCH - Wyoming. Interment will take place at Santa Fe National Cemetery. FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400