Martha Modena Vertreace-Doody

1945 - 2022

Martha Modena Vertreace-Doody, age 76, of Chicago, passed away on November 12, 2022. Born to Walter Charles Vertreace and Martha (nee Modena) on November 24, 1945, in Washington D.C. She was the beloved wife of Timothy John Doody, P.H.D. Martha was a poet and author of short stories and articles on literature and teaching. She was a 30-year Distinguished Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at Kennedy-King College, Chicago. Martha earned degrees in English from District of Columbia's Teachers College (BA in 1967) and Roosevelt University (MA in 1972), an MS in Religious Studies from Mundelein College in 1982, and an MFA from Vermont College (1996). She has twice been a Fellow at the Hawthornden International Writers' Retreat, Scotland. Her work focuses on American experiences as a black woman in the Chicago region, as a participant in American history, and as a community activist. She has been involved in Chicago's Catholic and African American communities, having served as an editor of Community Magazine at Friendship House, Chicago, and publishing poetry in the National Catholic Reporter. Her literary career aligned with a growing movement emerging after the 1950s of academic institutions in Chicago to foster poets. Martha was the featured Illinois poet in the winter 1988 issue of Spoon River Quarterly. She was a featured poet in Maverick Magazine in 1999. Her poems have appeared in anthologies including Illinois Voices: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Poetry (University of Illinois Press), Poets of the New Century (David R. Godine Publisher), and Manthology: Poems on the Male Experience (University of Iowa Press) and The Incredible Sestina Anthology (Write Bloody Publishing). Her most recent work, In This Glad Hour, was based on a study of diaries and letters from 1824-1848, to create a collection of poems that chronicles and gives voice to the life of Elizabeth Duncan, the wife of Joseph Duncan, the sixth governor of Illinois. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her. Interment private. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Arrangements entrusted to Hallowell & James Funeral Home at 708-352-6500 or HJFunerals.com.