Martha L. Dunbar

Martha L. Dunbar
Evansville, Ind.
Evansville native Martha L. Dunbar, 90, died on June 19, 2015, in Chico, California.
Ms. Dunbar was born in Evansville, on March 12, 1925, to the late Louis W. and Margaret Gruber Dunbar. As a youth she attended St. Mary Catholic Church and St. Anthony Catholic Church. Ms. Dunbar's elementary education was at St. Anthony School and Cedar Hall. She was a 1943 graduate of Central High School and a 1946 graduate of the University of Evansville. In 1948, Ms. Dunbar received a degree in theology from the Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois. She moved to California with her mother and younger brother, Paul V. Dunbar in 1949. (Paul preceded her in death in 2008.) After moving to California, she earned a Master's Degree in Speech Therapy and worked for many years as a speech therapist.
For over 30 years Martha was a devout member of the Chico New Thought Center for Spiritual Living.
A memorial service was held for Martha at the Center on July 11, 2015. Together with her brother, Martha began "giving back" to her hometown in 1995. Over the years they made gifts totaling $500,000 to benefit St. Mary and St. Anthony Churches, Central Library, Cedar Hall School, Tales and Scales, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, the Evansville YWCA, and the University of Southern Indiana. Martha and Paul Dunbar chose these institutions because they help people in areas they both believed were essential to life - education, spirituality, art, music, and charity to the less fortunate.
In a 1996 letter Martha and Paul wrote in reference to these charities: "These are worthy and sensitive undertakings that we were heartened and cheered to help. There is great joy in giving, in expending funds wisely and productively in sustaining our culture, our civilization. Evansville provided many essential services to us during our crucial formative years. Our resulting value system has guided us in participating in the perpetuation of such a kind and caring society."
True to her generous spirit while alive, Ms. Dunbar arranged for her body to be donated to medical science in death.
There are no family survivors but the many institutions in Evansville and Chico she and her brother generously supported will serve as a perpetual legacy. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Margaret G. Dunbar Scholarship, USI Foundation, 8600 University Blvd, Evansville, Indiana 47712.