Martha Landefeld Bacon

1925 - 2022

BACON

MARTHA LANDEFELD BACON

Martha "Marty" Landefeld Bacon, 97, died peacefully on July 26, 2022, in her home at Ingleside at King Farm in Rockville, Maryland.



Marty was born on January 20, 1925, in Los Angeles, California to Charles W. Landefeld and Ora (Hamlet) Landefeld. The family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1935. In her youth Marty attended Berkeley Friends (Quaker) Church and camps. Family trips were often taken to ocean piers where her parents fished or to the mountain streams where her father enjoyed fly-fishing for trout. In 1937, Marty walked across the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge the day it opened and in 1939 she attended the World's Fair on Treasure Island.



In high school and college Marty's main extra-curricular activities were modern dance (Orchesis) and ice-skating. She graduated from Berkeley High School in 1942 and worked for a year at the USDA Western Regional Research Lab where she developed an interest in science.



Marty graduated from University of California Berkeley in 1947 with a B.S. in Physiology. During her college years Marty worked at the HJ Heinz plant in the Quality Control lab. After college, Marty worked at the Lawrence Radiation Lab on the UC Berkeley campus. In 1948, at age 23, she left California when offered a job at National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. At NIH Marty worked in a lab at the National Cancer Institute and later moved to the Neurophysiology Lab in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).



In November 1952 she met Edward J. Bacon and married on June 13th, 1953, in Washington D.C. They have three children, raising them in Rockville, Maryland and two years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Marty placed her career at NIH on hold for 16 years to stay home with the kids. The summer months were filled with swim meets and trips to the cottage in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. And, with an interest in community access to health care, Marty volunteered at Planned Parenthood. She returned to NIH in in 1973 and retired in 1988.



Marty and Ed moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1990 and enjoyed their retirement years playing duplicate bridge, volunteering, swimming, competing in Senior Olympics, entertaining, and traveling. Ed passed away in 2011 and Marty moved back to Rockville, Maryland to Ingleside at King Farm, a retirement community. She remained an active swimmer and regularly baked and shared her loaves of sourdough bread with friends. She enjoyed writing poetry, daily crossword puzzles and listening to Big Band and Broadway Musicals. Known as "Grand Central Station", her apartment door at Ingleside was always left ajar, welcoming her frequent visitors in for food, a drink or just a visit. Though eventually affected by macular degeneration, Marty continued to participate in these fun gatherings.



Marty is remembered as energetic, confident, accomplished, and generous. She was straightforward in manner and speech and held strong convictions about honesty and proper grammar. Marty emphasized the importance of making good decisions, often stating that "Life is made up of Choices". She was happiest when helping others and established life-long friendships and connections through her baking, parties, and contributions to numerous charities.



Marty is survived by her three children Ann Davidsen (Steve) of Libertyville, IL, John Stuart Bacon (Julie) of Theresa, WI, and Paul Bacon (Lisa Laubgross) of Rockville, MD. She has seven grandchildren: Samantha Cross (Malon), Michael Davidsen (Ladan), Dana Davidsen, Paul Davidsen (Maddy), Ethan Bacon, Josie Bacon, and Jenny Bacon and one great-grandchild, Troy Cross. She was preceded in death by her husband Edward J. Bacon, her parents Charles and Ora Landefeld, brother Frank and sister Emilie.



A Celebration of Life will be held this Fall at Ingleside at King Farm in Rockville, MD. Donations may be made In Memory of Marty Bacon to JSSA Hospice, 200 Wood Hill Rd, Rockville MD 20850 or online at www.jssa.org/donate.