Mary E. Martin

RICHMOND, Ind. – Mary E. Martin, age 91, of Richmond, died Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Reid Health Center surrounded by her daughters, Amy and Catherine. She had lived at Friends Fellowship in an independent house since 2015. The family would like to sincerely thank Reid Health Hospital Staff and Hospice Services for the wonderful care they provided her during the last weeks of her life. Mary was born on August 30, 1931, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to Arthur H. and Ethel M. Ellis. Mary graduated from Foxborough High School in June 1949 and attended the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire, graduating in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in home economics. She went on to complete a one-year post-graduate course in Dietetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1954. She then worked as a Clinical and Administrative Dietitian at the University Hospitals of Madison, Wisconsin, from 1954 to 1960. It was in Madison that she met her future husband, Charles (Chuck) W. Martin. They were married on June 20,1959 in Foxborough, Mass. In August 1960, Mary and Chuck moved to Richmond, where Chuck took a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Geology at Earlham College. Mary remained in the home, raising their three children Amy, Catie, and Chuck. During those years, she developed a passionate interest in botany, and for a time was affectionately known to her family as the “belly botanist” because of her penchant for crawling around on hands and knees outdoors on family trips looking at and often collecting plant specimens, which she pressed into her growing botany collection in the basement. While raising three children, she never lost her interest in dietetics, taking every opportunity to remind family and friends about the need to maintain a healthy diet. She became an active dietician again in the early 1980s after putting in long hours reviewing old notes and pouring over Gray’s Anatomy to prepare for her recertification. Working first as a traveling dietician in western Ohio and eastern Indiana, she finally accepted a position as a Clinical Dietician at Reid Memorial Hospital, Richmond, in 1981. This began a 16-year career in which she interacted with hundreds of patients, doctors, and nurses, several of whom came by to see her during her final days. Talkative with any and all, she made a lasting, positive impression on everyone whom she met during her time working at Reid Memorial Hospital. Upon her retirement, Mary Ellen and Chuck traveled extensively in the US and around the world. In addition to travel, her joys were visiting her children and grandchildren, traversing remote mountain passes in Colorado and Utah, and spending time at their homes in Colorado and Florida. She was a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox, watching every game from Spring Training until the last out in the fall. Her home had Red Sox memorabilia throughout. On one visit to Fenway Park for a game, her name as a lifelong Red Sox fan was shown on the center field scoreboard. Survivors include her son Charles Wellington (Sabine) Martin of Manhattan, Kansas, daughter Amy Martin (Paul) Ferguson of North Andover, Massachusetts, daughter Catherine Martin (Dave) McCool of Newburyport, Massachusetts; grandchildren, Nicholas and Christine Martin, Benjamin, Rebecca, William, and Owen Ferguson, and Margaret and Clara McCool. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Chuck, and her parents. A celebration of Mary E. Martin’s life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at the Community Room of Friends Fellowship. Private entombment will be at St. Paul’s Episcopal Columbarium. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations “In Memory of Mary Ellen Martin” to: Girls Inc., 1407 South 8th Street, Richmond, IN 47374, or online at: girlsincwayne.org. Condolences may be sent to the family via the guest book at www.doanandmillsfuneralhome.com

Mary E. Martin

August 30, 1931 - May 11, 2023