Martha was called Sis by her siblings. She graduated from Emlenton, PA high school left Pennsylvania and moved to Washington DC where she worked during the day and went to school at night studying stenotype machine. She then went to work at the Pentagon. She met and married William (Bill) Gaster who went to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. They eventually left DC and she moved to his home town of St Augustine, FL while he went on a battleship New Jersey for a couple years. Upon his return they moved to Jamaica where their first child Brenda was born. After a couple years there they moved backed to the states locating in Memphis, TN where their son Scott was born. They then moved to Charleston SC where Bill retired from the Navy and went to work for the Navy as a civilian. They remained in Charleston until Bill's death of cancer in 1987. Martha then moved with her son to Chessne SC near Spartanburg for a few years returning to Charleston in the fall of 1997. She died a few months later of congestive heart failure.

Obituary from the Post and Courier, dated January 25, 1998

Martha Hilliard Gaster 78, of Charleston, a retired civil servant, died Thursday in a local hospital. The funeral will be at noon Tuesday in Nativity Catholic Church. Burial, directed by McAllister's Downtown Chapel, will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Mrs Gaster was born in Franklin, PA. a daughter of Percy S. Hilliard and Frances Hilliard. She attended Pennsylvania schools.

Surviving are a daughter, Brenda G. L'Estrange of Alpharetta, GA; a son, William S. Gaster of Charleston; a brother, Scott Hilliard of Valley Center, Calif., four sisters, Beverly Lenox of Corvallis, OR., Barbara Landis of Shelbyville, TN, Yvonne Yeager of Franklin, PA., and Mary Haun of Fairborn, Ohio and five grandchildren.

Also same paper under Funerals:

GASTER - The relatives and friends of Martha Hilliard Gaster are invited to attend her funeral mass at 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, January 27, 1998 at Nativity Catholic Church. The Rite of Committal will be in Holy Cross Cemetery. Friends may call at McAllister Funeral Home Downtown Chapel on Monday, January 26, 1998 between the hours of 6 PM and 8 PM where the vigil will be held at 7 PM. She was pre-deceased by her husband, William Howard Gaster and her brother, Clair Hilliard. Mrs Gaster is survived by one daughter- Brenda G. L'Estrange of Alpharetta, GA; one son William S. Gaster of Charleston; one brother Scott Hilliard of Valley Center, CA; four sisters- Beverly Lenox of Corvallis, OR, Barbara Landis of Shelbyville, TN, Yvonne Yeager of Franklin, PA, and Mary Haun of Fairborn, OH; and five grandchildren - Jessica McNally, Robert Gaster, Reva Gaster, Frank L'Estrange and Paul L'Estrange.