Martha May with Russ Cohen and the ship, ‘The General Sherman’ leaving Burlingame for the last time.
We’ve been hearing and reading about the death toll statistics all day, every day during this pandemic. The news makes one wonder about our mortality. Have we made a difference? Have we contributed in some real way in the world or even in our own personal or professional community? What might we be remembered for? Did we accomplish the things we wanted to during our time here? What might people say about us when we are gone?
The San Mateo Daily Journal typically reserves space in its obituary section for tributes to those who have died. Some have indeed made significant contributions to society that warrant news stories. Some simply get recognized by people who knew them and write nice things about them.
A local woman named Martha May recently passed at the age of 97 and her obituary appeared on Tuesday, April 28. It was more of a short documentation of her life than a tribute. No accolades, no mention of her achievements. No photo of her in her youth. The reason? The short, simple obit was written by Martha herself. It was typical Martha. Documentation was what she did. After all, she was a founding member of the Burlingame Historical Society. In the 1970s, she recognized that no one was documenting Burlingame’s past or its present-day history. She began to collect and store artifacts in her house in 1975 and helped convince the city of Burlingame some 10 years later to lend the society space to do research and store the growing collection. Today, the archives, located in the back of Washington Park, is overflowing with more than 125,000 items, some of which can be seen inside the Burlingame Hillsborough History Museum located inside the historic Burlingame Train Station. Martha was named Citizen of the Year in the 1980s and was the first recipient of the city of Burlingame’s Walk of Fame in 2008. She devoted more than 40 years to making certain that Burlingame and Hillsborough history was well documented and shared. She collected, filed and catalogued items until at age 96 she could no longer walk up the stairs to help in the archives.
Martha sensed she did not have much time left so she wrote her own obituary. Unlike most of us who might attempt to write our own eulogy and fill it with great accolades, her words did not self congratulate. In fact, she did not wish to have a public memorial service or funeral. She wanted to control the narrative of her life right up until the end.Â
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Perhaps we all want that kind of control. Cliche as it might be, we all want to look back and know we had a purpose and that our lives had meaning.
Martha, you deserve a big pat on the back from all of us who knew you and appreciate what you did to preserve local history.
Truth is, you made history. You left a legacy. Your life had more meaning and purpose than most. Here’s to you Martha.
Russ Cohen is a past president and current vice president of the Burlingame Historical Society.
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(1) comment
Very nice letter.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.