Story by Starla Pointer,McMinnville News-Register/N-R, 5/2/2017. Photo by “Mac News,” which is not affiliated with the N-R.
Mary
Martin will tell you she’s no angel, no goody two-shoes.
She’ll say, in her very straightforward manner, that the positive things she’s done in McMinnville aren’t that special. They’re just things that needed doing and she was available.
Many
others would disagree with her humble appraisal, including those who chose
Martin as this year’s Woman of the Year. She was honored Monday night at the
annual Distinguished Service Awards banquet.
Also
recognized were Man of the Year Rocky Wade, Junior Citizen Chelsey Nichol,
Outstanding Educator Kelly Carlson and Outstanding Farmers Christine and Jared
Anderson.
“Being
named Woman of the Year is humbling,” said Martin, who admitted having a rare
moment of speechlessness when informed. “It’s truly an honor when I see the
women who received the award before me,” she said.
They would
return that compliment. In fact, they did when they opted to nominate her for
this year’s award.
At
Monday’s banquet, presenters noted Martin’s professional accomplishments in
business and real estate and her extensive community service, which ranges from
supporting the library to helping the less fortunate.
“The
unique combination of Mary’s day-to-day involvement in the immediate concerns
of life on the streets, and her community stature from years in real estate,
make her an enormously effective bridge across a cultural divide,” according to
the past women of the year who nominated her for this year’s award.
Martin
grew up near Langlois, on the Southern Oregon Coast.
She
remembers her parents helping people — her mother feeding homeless men who came
to their yard and her father finding them jobs to do. They set an example by
which she lives today.
“If we saw
a need, we were able to fill it,” said Martin, who as an adult would often host
people, such as Linfield College international students, in her home.
“It was
our pleasure,” she said. “And we received 10 times what we gave.”
Married
young, she and her husband, the late Noel Martin, came to McMinnville so he
could attend Linfield. Both had some relatives in the area, including Noel’s
uncle, a Linfield professor.
She took
care of their two sons. Soon, they would have a daughter and another son, as
well.
They were
poor, she said. “This town and our church took care of us,” she said.
“If someone
had an extra box of pears from the tree in their yard, it ended up on our
porch. Friends traded us clothes. The ladies of the church taught me how to
rear the children right. It was a good place for us to land.”
After
graduating, her husband joined the nascent Linfield Research Institute. She
stayed home with the kids: Noel Paul, now living in Hillsboro; John, now living
in Colorado; and Stacy and Robert, both still making their homes in
McMinnville.
When the
youngest was about 8, Martin joined Lois Gilmore, Marilyn Crousser, Beverly
Trenneman and Rosemary Moore to buy a bookstore, which they called The Book
Shop. It was located in the 300 block of Third Street.
US Bank
offered the five women a loan, letting them sign for it themselves, rather than
requiring their husband’s signatures. For the early 1970s, that was an
important victory.
“It was
very unusual then, and a very fine thing,” Martin said of the all-female
venture.
Customers proved supportive. “The people of McMinnville wanted a bookstore, and we filled a need,” she said.
She
recalled one couple who drove to Portland to look for books to give as
Christmas gifts. They made a list, then returned to McMinnville to order the
volumes from The Book Shop.
“This town
was good to us,” she said.
Each Book
Shop partner had a day on which she was responsible for the business, plus a
day to serve as the assistant. Each had a specialty, such as ordering stock.
“We took
care of each others’ kids and supported each other,” said Martin, a lifelong
book lover. “It was very fun. How I miss those women!”
She
enjoyed working with her co-owners and enjoyed the business. But she had always
dreamed of a career selling houses. “I love people,” she said, explaining that
a career in real estate would bring her into contact with people and give her a
chance to guide and help them.
She loved
looking at homes, as well. “I wanted a home in the country,” she recalled.
When she
decided to change careers, she talked with her friend Marilyn Dell Worrix, then
an agent and later an agent and broker at Willamette West. With her friend’s
guidance, Martin earned her real estate license and joined the firm.
She spent
the next four decades at Willamette West. After she became an agent herself,
she mentored others, including her daughter, Stacy. “Then she was the Realtor
and I was the flunky,” said Martin, who treasured the mother-daughter teamwork.
Martin was
named Realtor of the Year in 1995. The award was one of many high points in
what Martin called “a very satisfying career.”
“I enjoyed
real estate, especially helping first-time buyers,” she said. She noted that
people buying their first homes have a lot to learn, but also bring a great
deal of enthusiasm to the process.
If they
were new to McMinnville, as well as house buying, she relished getting to tell
them about the “wonderful place” that would be their new home.
For
Martin, the city’s wonders include its beauty and also its residents.
“The
trees, the care people exhibit, the education system ... it’s been my joy to
live in McMinnville,” she said. “I love this city.”
McMinnville
isn’t perfect, she said, “but it’s still the very best I’ve ever seen.”
After
Martin lost her husband and retired from Willamette West, she decided to spend
more time helping her community. In particular, she said, “The plight of the
homeless touched me.”
She became
involved with First Baptist’s twice-weekly breakfast program.
She
recalled the first meals only attracted half a dozen people. Now, they often
draw 35 and sometimes 75.
First
Baptist has since added a clothing program, along with showers, lockers and a
portable rest room funded by the city but maintained by the church. Martin has
contributed a table with such necessities as toothbrushes, razors, rubber
bands, antibiotics and personal hygiene items, which she calls “the stuff of
life.”
She advocates
for homeless people, as well. Homelessness is an issue that should concern
everyone, she said, not just churches and service clubs, but city officials and
others.
Martin
sees the need for advocating for the less fortunate; volunteering in existing
programs and finding new ways to assist; creating safe places for street people
to sleep and store their possessions; providing clean, safe public restrooms
and showers. In addition, she said, she sees a special need for providing more
mental health counseling instead of warehousing people in jail.
“We care
about these people,” she said. “They are the people of McMinnville, too. I
challenge everyone to help them.”
