Ann Laurania Martin

Ann Laurania Martin

San Antonio, TX - It is with great sadness that we announce that Ann Laurania Martin, 91, passed away on January 11th, 2025. She was widowed by her husband, John Hubert Martin, to whom she was married to for 64 years, in Amherst, Massachusetts on April 28th, 2023.

Born to Laurania Gladys Herd and Eric Edward Bolter on September 2nd, 1933, Ann leaves behind her two sons, Anthony and James, their wives, Kaoru and Kristin, and their children, Ren, Hanna, Ella, and Olivia.

Ann grew up in Torquay, England, where her father was an estate agent. Her mother was a wonderful example to follow for Ann and her sister, Pauline. The day after Ann's sixth birthday, war was declared on Germany. She recalled her mother covering windows with sticky paper and black blinds to prevent injury and ensure a blackout. She also remembered air raid warnings, nights in a shelter, food rations, and the bombings.

In 1950, Ann went to secretarial college in Bridport. Hired for her first job in London, she later worked at the head world office of Nestlé in Geneva, Switzerland, living with a French-speaking family. Swimming, skiing, playing tennis, and joining a dramatic club, she also traveled in Italy. Back in London, Ann met John through a childhood friend, Jill. Both were now architects who had been at college together.

In 1965, Ann and John took the Mauretania's last sailing to New York. While John studied at Harvard, Ann worked in the Harvard-Yenching Library. By the time John retired from the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass 32 years later, Ann had had a varied career.

In the 1970s, she worked as a music librarian and in the special collections at Amherst College's Frost Library. In the 1990s, Ann became an administrative assistant in the School of Education at UMass. She and John later spent time at their house on Cape Ann, took courses in the Five College Learning in Retirement program, and travelled the world. Ann was also a guide at the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Evergreens.