Martha Griffin

      Martha (Marty) Griffin, 81, of Hingham, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Marty was born on August 11, 1942, at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago to William (Bill) and Ruth Griffin. She was raised in Bloomington, Illinois, where she attended Second Presbyterian Church, sang in the youth choirs and graduated from Bloomington High School. She then attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Marty became a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, studied her junior year in France and graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1964.

     Marty's first job was with the National Security Agency for 3 1/2 years. Marty then moved to the Boston area in 1968. Her first computer job in the area was with RCA and included a 10-month assignment at Siemens in Munich, Germany. In 1972 Marty moved to New York City to attend Columbia University, where in 1974 she received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. After 18 months of working as a nurse at Children's Hospital in Boston, she returned to the computer field for the next 25 years working at various computer companies and also with a consulting firm. In 1991, Marty accepted another year's work assignment abroad, this time with IBM in Nice, France. To satisfy her passion for travel, Marty took yearly vacations to destinations all over the world.  In her free time when she wasn't traveling to far away places, she also enjoyed snow skiing, cycling, kayaking, knitting, playing tennis and the piano. After retiring in 2001, she became a certified tour guide, leading trips and running a travel program at a local senior center. Marty also volunteered at the Garden in the Woods, a woodland botanical garden located in Framingham. In 2009 Marty became an ESL teacher, which she continued to do for several years.

     In addition to her love for travel, Marty truly enjoyed hosting a variety of events at her home in Framingham. She often invited friends for wonderful dinner parties. She had a taste for food of all ethnicities and wine from all over the world. Also, every summer Marty hosted family and friends for an awesome outdoor party in her big, beautiful backyard, which bordered the Sudbury River. In addition, memories were made just before Christmas every year when Marty invited her friends' children to gingerbread decorating parties at her house. Prior to every party, she baked and built gingerbread houses for each child! Marty’s annual Yankee Swap Christmas party was definitely a favorite event for her and all who attended.

     In 2012 Marty moved to Linden Ponds, the large, active retirement community in Hingham. Marty continued to enjoy skiing, cycling, kayaking and of course, traveling. In fact, in February 2018, at the age of 75 years, Marty traveled to her 7th continent, Antarctica!

     Marty always had a great sense of humor, a positive attitude and was a friend to all she met. Marty will be greatly missed by her friends and family. Marty was preceded in death by her father, William (Bill) Griffin 6/27/93, her mother, Ruth Boynton Griffin 2/22/08, her sister Patricia (Patty) Griffin Nelson 6/20/73, her brother-in-law Dwight Nelson 5/18/23, her uncle W.A. (Bud) Boynton 3/21/09 and her aunt Virginia (Ginger) Boynton 2/23/13. Marty is survived by nieces, Lori Nelson George of Galloway, OH, Kathi Nelson Sawyer and her husband Scott of Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Elizabeth Nelson Lane and her husband Bill of North Vernon, IN; sister-in-law Anna Cooper Nelson; great-nieces and great-nephews, Allyson George Christopher and her husband Patrick, Heather George, Jack, Megan, Leslie and Luke Sawyer, Morgan and Cooper Lane; great-great niece Maya George; and cousin Patricia Boynton Frey and her husband William, Barbara Boynton Connor and her husband Richard. The family wishes to extend their sincerest gratitude to Marty's caregivers at Linden Ponds, and to her care team of friends, which included Barbara Washburn, Roger Bell, Barbara Weinstein, Jenny Fariborz, Cecelia Healy and Martha Cochrane, who stepped up and did everything they could to help Marty, especially these past few years, when she needed them the most.

     In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Martha Griffin to the World Wildlife Fund,  https://protect.worldwildlife.org/  and Grand Circle Foundation/Overseas Adventure Travel, which supports projects around the world, some of which Marty visited on her many OAT trips.  https://www.grandcirclefoundation.org/