Martha M. Luebke was born February 5, 1921, the daughter of John W. and Marian Stevens Plencner and was a native Beloiter. She attended Beloit schools, graduated in 1940 and attended Long Beach Junior College. Martha married Arthur L. Luebke in 1943, at St. Jude Catholic Church, while her husband was serving as a naval officer.

Returning to Beloit after the end of World War II, her husband became Municipal Judge of Beloit and then Rock County Circuit Judge until his retirement and died in 1982. They raised six children. Martha M. Luebke now joins her husband, Arthur L. Luebke, both elected to the Beloit Hall of Fame. Their service and contributions to Beloit have been memorialized in the naming of the “Arthur and Martha Luebke Library” at the Lincoln Center of the Beloit Historical Society.

Martha shared her late husband’s passion for local history and for the Beloit community. She also established her own antique business from 1960 to 1985 and the Collector’s Gallery became noted for its high quality and authentic antiques and art work. She was a leader of the Beloit Historical Society, serving on its Board of Directors, volunteering on committees and for events working on the restoration and maintenance of the Hanchett-Bartlett Homestead and as photo archivist of the Society. Her knowledge, advice and opinion regarding artifacts was relied upon by the Society.

Her community activities included service to her church as a member of the St. Thomas Catholic Church Altar Society and her active participation in house sales to benefit Hannah’s House. She was an active and contributing member of Friends of the Library, active in the planning and development of the Angel Museum and a member of Fortnightly Club, the Beloit-Janesville Symphony, Beloit Art League and the Society for Unlimited Learning. It is only fitting that Martha M. Luebke join her husband Arthur L. Luebke as a member of the Beloit Hall of Fame. Individually and together their contribution to Beloit was enormous, will be long standing and their good works remembered in years to come.