Nancy Renee (Leu) Martin, 68, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, died on July 22, 2026 at the Southeast Iowa Regional Hospice House in West Burlington, Iowa from complications of bile duct cancer, “cholangiocarcinoma”.
Nancy was born July 25, 1957 in Burlington, IA to Harvey G. Leu, Sr. and Myrna M. (Leeper) Leu. She was a 1975 graduate of Danville High School and a 1979 graduate of Iowa Wesleyan College with a BA in Elementary Education and a Music Minor. On June 19, 1982, she married Wyman Martin, her high school sweetheart, at Harmony Bible Church, Danville, Iowa.
Additional studies included an Adult Bible Studies Certificate from Moody Bible Institute in 2004. In 2013 she graduated from Morningside College with a Master of Arts in Teaching degree which included an ELL endorsement from William Penn University and a TAG endorsement from Morningside College. She started her teaching career in 1979 at Mt. Pleasant public school, teaching the 1A/Pre-First Grade class at Saunders School. Then in 1983, she helped start West Avenue Baptist Christian School in Burlington. In 1986, she paused her teaching career to be a stay-at-home mom when her two sons were born.
In 1993, Nancy, along with her husband and children moved to the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands for 4 years where they started St. John Christian Academy. After the USVI, she taught at Mt. Pleasant Christian School in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. She finished her teaching career by teaching sixteen years at Morning Sun Public School, teaching Elementary Music, Elementary Band, Spanish, TAG, and ELL. In addition, she also taught the “Tiger Good News Club” once a week after school for nine years. Her strength was teaching elementary children, especially the younger ages. She taught for a total of forty years.
Nancy played piano and taught private piano lessons for over 30 years. She loved playing hymns at church. Her favorite was “To God Be The Glory”. She also played the trumpet. When her children were teenagers, she was a trumpet player in her family brass group called “Martin Brass”. Nancy had the unique ability to “multitask”. While she taught school for the last fourteen years, she also was the head librarian and President of the Danville Library Board at the Danville Library, a private library which was part of the Danville Station which included the Anne Frank Museum. She enjoyed planning activities to make the library fun. You could many times get a “prize” at the library during her Saturday morning story hour.
At church, she was always actively teaching young children. She was very concerned about supporting foreign Christian missions and served on the missions committee. Her husband referred to her as the “child whisperer”, because of how she could interact with young children. Her personality would draw children to her. When Nancy taught school, she reminded us of “Miss Frizzle” from the Magic School Bus book series. There was always adventure in her classroom! Sometimes it might even be kind of crazy. Many times, her favorite color “red” was involved in the decorations! At the Danville Library, she truly was “Fancy Nancy” when she dressed up for the “Fancy Nancy” parties. She was an “encourager”, always seeing the positive side of life. Nancy was very hospitable. She was always happy to see you and welcomed you with a big smile and a hug. She loved it when her son’s families would come home for their annual “Martin Reunion” as she loved organizing and preparing all the meals. Nancy was a very generous person, quick to share and help those in need. She would send cards and letters almost daily to acknowledge birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. She was always more concerned about others than herself.
Most of all, Nancy believed in Jesus Christ as her Savior. She was looking forward to spending eternity with Him! She understood that John 3:16 is true. Bible reading and prayer time was a daily habit for her. Whenever a Christian friend would pass on, she used the phrase “they were promoted to heaven”. Now we can say Nancy has been “promoted to heaven”.
For the last 35 years or so, one of Nancy’s favorite Bible verses was from 1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (NASB)
She is survived by her husband Wyman; two sons, Micah (Laura) Martin and Joel (Carissa) Martin; grandchildren, Dominic, Darling, Molly, Ellie, and Evan; and siblings, Sharon (Mark) Brueck and Leah (Paolo) Van Salvo. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, Harvey Leu Jr. and Steven Leu.
Visitation will begin at noon, Monday, July 27, 2026 at Elliott Funeral Chapel in New London with the family receiving friends from 4:00 to 7:00PM. A funeral service will be Tuesday, July 28 at 10:00AM at Calvary Baptist Church, 803 E. Maple Leaf Drive, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Burial will follow at Jaggar Cemetery, Danville, Iowa. Memorials to honor Nancy may be directed to Southeast Iowa Child Evangelism Fellowship or to the Danville Library. Online condolences may be left at www.elliottfuneralchapel.com.