Leaster Suzanne Martin-Arps

July 30, 1942 - January 23, 2022

Leaster Suzanne Martin-Arps (Lee) was born July 30, 1942 to Lillie Mae Burns and Horace Jay Martin in Atlanta, TX. Lee grew up in Atlanta, Tx in a big loving family. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1959 and went on to Texas College to study Music Education. There she met her future husband and the love of her life Winford Arps, Jr. After graduation, they married and the family was completed with the birth of their son Christopher Roderick Arps. In 1968, Winford was hired as a salesman for the General Foods Corporation and he soon after moved his small family to St. Louis. Lee found her calling in teaching. She taught in the old Kinloch School District and Ferguson-Florissant school districts and later went on to receive her Master's degree in Education from St. Louis University. She left teaching for a time to join her husband Winford in the family business. She would later return to teaching and she retired from the Ferguson Florissant School District after thirty five years of service. After retirement, Lee worked for twelve years as a reading specialist for Non-Public Educational Services. In every class, Lee touched the lives of her students firm guidance and a heart filled with unconditional love. She is preceded in death by her parents Horace and Lillie Mae Martin, sisters Laverne Webster and Varnell Barnes, brothers Wesley Martin, L. K. Martin, Michael Birmingham and Billy Birmingham. Lee leaves behind her beloved son and daughter-in-love Christopher and Becky Arps; her brothers LA Martin(Francis), Harold Birmingham, Rickey Birmingham, and sisters Ladell Winkley, Nadine Manning, Brenda Smith, Vickie Birmingham, and Gwendolyn Davenport; her dear friend Cathy Mitchell; her honorary son Anthony Washington; granddaughter Brianna Arps; nieces, nephews and all of the students whose lives she touched over the years. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Kids in Need Foundation kinf.org or Fresh Winds Christian Church 360 Graham Rd, Florissant, MO 63031