Martha Hooven Obituary

Martha A. Hooven
May 26, 1953 - June 12, 2020
A fierce friend, avid reader and patient listener, Martha Hooven lived life with style, strength and resolve. She mentored and sponsored colleagues throughout her career. A matriarch, she served as a valued confidant to family and friends. Generous, funny, extraordinarily well read, ambitious and loyal, Martha approached each day with a combination of determination, confidence and commitment to the task at hand. Her smile and laugh were electric. She enjoyed a good story and silly joke. She loved dining out, attending performances, shopping and book club. You would often find her in her backyard on a sunny day, sitting with family and friends, a glass of wine in hand. She would bring up the latest article or book she read, ensure the music was on and invite you to get up and dance.

The third child of George and Ruth Hooven, Martha was born in Collegeville, Pennsylvania on May 26, 1953. She grew up with her siblings Ed, Nan and Dorothy, spending summers playing in their backyard pool. As a young feminist, Martha organized, wrote and thought deeply about the position of women in this world. She never lost her fervor for this cause or her sense of outrage at unfairness of any kind. While in Boston working as part of the women's movement, Martha met her husband Dennis. Soon after they moved to Douglassville, Georgia where their son Chandler was born. Not long after, they relocated to San Francisco, where later their son Taylor was born. She continued to maintain her home in San Francisco throughout her life, where she later would play with her granddaughters.

For more than 25 years, Martha rose in her career at UCSF where she last served as the associate chair of administration in the Department of Medicine. A forceful advocate and champion of inclusion, Martha received the Chancellor's Diversity Award in 2006. She helped establish the Academic Business Officers Group Mentorship Program. Martha went on from UCSF to become the Vice Dean for Administration at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Recognized as a talented administrator and wise advisor, she fueled Columbia's growth in clinical programs, research, and campus redevelopment. In 2020, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in 2020 renamed its annual awards for staff and community service the Martha A. Hooven Awards for Excellence.

Martha passed away at her home in San Francisco surrounded by her family. She is survived by her siblings, husband, sons, stepsons and granddaughters. Her family would especially like to thank her care teams at Columbia and UCSF, her colleague Lee Goldman MD MPH, sister Dorothy and her dearest friends Julie Ballard, Jan VonFlatern and Janet Wright for exceptional care and support. The family invites remembrances and photographs of Martha sent to her husband Dennis. A memorial service is planned for 2021.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Jul. 28 to Jul. 30, 2020.

Memories and Condolences
for Martha Hooven

10 Entries

Robert Feldman

December 5, 2023

I know it is now three years since we have lost Martha. I just now found out as I left the industry several years ago. Martha was a great client of ours and showed a lot of faith and trust in my small business when things were very difficult. Everything I said about her and her kindness is the memorial is 100% true I´m very saddened to read this as I tried to reach out recently. my condolences to the family. Rob Feldman

Rebecca Cooke

May 14, 2021

Martha and I were colleagues in the professional organizations for Department of Medicine and School of Medicine Administrators. I consider her a mentor and admired her intelligence and experience. She was one of only a few women in the group of medicine department administrators when I joined that group decades ago. I have lost touch with my medical school colleagues and am only just learning this news. The remembrance above is beautiful and a fitting tribute to a life well lived. What a tragic loss.

Nancy A. Honeychuck (maiden name Richter)

October 9, 2020

I went to school with Martha and also Nancy Hooven many years ago at Kimberton. Although we lost touch, except for a brief "hello" on FB or linked in a few years ago, I never forgot her as an articulate, friendly , and sincere classmate with a strong sense of fairness/justice. I stumbled on her obituary this evening as I was thinking about her, and wondered where she was now. I am saddened by her death, but not at all surprised to read the list of her accomplishments. My condolences to her close friends and family.

DeAnne Hill

August 15, 2020

Martha was a dear friend & co-worker for many years. Many memories come to light when I think back on those years and the fun times we had in recent years when I visited her in NYC. She was elegant and a woman to be admired for all her accomplishments.
She was so proud of her family and talked about them often with great pride. I will miss her smile and laughter so very much.

Deanne Hill

Planted Trees

Edward W. DeWane

August 14, 2020

Martha was my neighbor accross the street in Collegeville, PA. I was and still am a very close friend to her brother Ed. Of course Ed and I are 10+ years older, so she was the cutest (little girl) on our street... The tag along kid, to Nancy... I remember riding to church in the Ole 50's Grey Ford Wagon. That was a treat! My brother John, Ed, Nancy, ME and Little MARTHA the toddler... The HOOVENS and DeWane's were part of a very Rich Time in HISTORY. Clean living and it really did take neighborhood to raise a child. I was put in my place many times by MRS HOOVENS (affectionately called Aunt Ruth). Taught additional Manners & Obedients. Aunt Ruth only had to look at any one of us without saying a word, we knew we'd Better SETTLE!!!
LOVE TO YOU MARTHA,
MY LITTLE SISTER,
I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU, and your family,
ED DeWane (part of the 9th Avenue gang)
See ya someday soon......

Monique C Crayton

August 7, 2020

I'm so sad to hear of Martha's passing. Martha gave me an opportunity at UCSF back in 2002. I was her administrative assistant and I must say she was a force, a leader, a presence! I'll never forget her quiet but stern leadership. She, Dr. Goldman, and Marcia Cohen laid the foundation for the Department of Medicine for years to come. We'll miss you Martha.

Warmly,
Monique Crayton

Dorothy Hooven Blakeley

August 3, 2020

There are not enough words in the English language to describe what Martha meant to me. She was the first person to imprint upon my soul. For some, it is their mother or father - for me, it was Martha.
By the time I arrived, my parents were tired. But Martha, 7 years old, literally saved my life. She was a force of nature, then and all through her life.
Martha loved hard and fiercely, and no one more than her children - she was a mama bear forever and always. She loved her boys and her granddaughters beyond measure.
Without her now, I feel unmoored and a bit adrift and I suspect I will for some time to come.
Martha, I will miss you forever...