Martha Armstrong Phelan, 98, passed away peacefully in her home in Indianapolis on November 29, 2025.
Martha (Marty) was born in Shelby, Ohio, on July 26, 1927, to George W. and Anna Wood Armstrong. She grew up in Shelby surrounded by family and friends and graduated from Shelby High School.
Thereafter, Marty graduated from Oberlin College followed by Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in Chicago. The C.I.A. sought her out to update and improve its secretarial pools. It was in Washington D.C. that she met her future husband and love of her life, Vincent R. Phelan. Subsequently, she managed the office for the Committee for Free Asia in New York City. She was quite the adventurer!
Marty spent the next 53 years of her life in her hometown of Shelby. She was a very strong lady. While rearing her three children, Anne, Dave, and Beth, she cared for her parents and ultimately her husband.
Marty sang in the Shelby Presbyterian Church choir for over 50 years and was an active member in the Shelby Garden Club.
Marty was fun-loving, caring, competitive, creative, musical, and very intelligent. She loved to garden, arrange flowers, play ping-pong, travel, go boating, and spend time with her children, grandchildren, and recently, great-grandchildren. She was known for her delicious homemade apple sauce.
In 2019 Marty moved to Indianapolis and lived at Mystic Bay. She loved her neighbors and greatly valued the friendships she made there. She maintained her love of gardening by joining the Broad Ripple Garden Club and by serving on the Mystic Bay Grounds Committee. She joined Meridian Street United Methodist Church and attended regularly.
Marty is survived by her 3 children, Beth Riley-Baker (David), Dave Phelan (Barb), and Anne Phelan; her 5 grandchildren, Breanne Borne (Ryan), Kaitlin Duran (Joe), Marie Amundson (Keith), Terri Cariolla (Matt), and Connor Phelan; her 3 step-grandchildren, Kristina Roth (Mike), Brian Baker, and Julia Riley (Jim); and 12 great-grandchildren.
Marty was a force of nature and an inspiration to those who knew her even at the age of 98.
A funeral service will be held January 3, 2026, at the Broad Ripple Flanner Buchanan Funeral Home in Indianapolis. Visitation will be from 12:00-2:00 P.M. followed by a memorial service at 2:00 P.M.
A second funeral service will be held January 17, 2026, at Barkdull Funeral Home in Shelby, Ohio, with visitation from 11:00-12:30 P.M. followed by a memorial service at 12:30 P.M. Marty will be buried at Oakland Cemetery, in Shelby, Ohio.
There will most likely be a Celebration of Life in Indianapolis for out-of-town relatives and friends later in the year with the date to still be determined.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Broad Ripple Garden Club at Attn: Phyllis Grzeskowiak 709 E. Village Drive Carmel, Indiana 46032; Meridian Street United Methodist Church at 5500 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208; the First Presbyterian Church of Shelby, 24 N. Gamble Street, Shelby, Ohio 44875; or The Nature Conservancy, Attn: Treasury, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203.
Funeral Home: Barkdull Funeral Home & Crematory
Website: www.barkdullfuneralhome.com