ANNE MARTZ

MARTZ--Anne Sophie. Beloved by all who knew her, Anne Sophie Uldall Martz died peacefully in her own bed on Sept. 16 after three years of fighting lung cancer. She was 91 years old. Born in Denmark to the linguist Hans Jorgen Uldall and Inge Ploug Ottesen, Anne lost her mother to tuberculosis when she was just three years old. Through the World War II years of Denmark's German occupation, while her father was stuck for the duration teaching in the Middle East, she lived with her uncle, Svend Ottesen, his wife Birgit and Birgit's daughter Anne Vii. Reunited after the war with her father and stepmother Betsy, Anne spent three years in Peronist Argentina before Hans Jorgen and Betsy found teaching jobs in Edinburgh, Scotland. There Anne met an American fledgling journalist, Larry Martz, who was to be her husband for 70 years. She made a huge leap of faith to join him in a country she had never known, and they followed his career from homes in Michigan to New York City apartments with their small children, Geoffrey and Jenny Anne. They also had second homes, first with family friends on the North Fork of Long Island and then for 30 years in the Berkshire mountains. A homemaker and PTA mom, Anne spent endless hours trying to persuade her fellow parents to prioritize real educational issues over squabbles about hallway rules or vending machines. She earned a belated degree in classical studies from Hunter College, and founded and led an Upper West Side block association. She was a board member of her cooperative building and of the Women's City Club of New York. To have her say as a voter, she became a U.S. citizen. And with Larry, she endowed a fellowship for aspiring foreign correspondents through the Overseas Press Club of America. Anne was a talented thinker, writer and trained chef, with a gift for choosing friends who included diplomats, doctors, an investment banker, artists and dancers, her housekeeper and one engaging oddball who fit no mold at all. She encouraged her family to be broad in their affections and supported them with remarkable grace when they strayed from expected paths. Anne was always the finest, bluest berry in the family bunch. But characteristically, she never believed that about herself. Gentle, kind, loving, and lovely all her life, she will be deeply missed. With Larry, survivors include Geoffrey and his partner, Peri Muldofsky; Jenny Anne and her husband, Galen Horst-Martz; and two grandchildren, Emma Horst- Martz and Mack Muldofsky. Another grandchild, Hans HorstMartz, died earlier. Anne is also survived by many dear friends and relatives in the U.S., Denmark and Britain. A celebration of her life will be held later. Donations in her memory may be made to the D.I.I. and Cancer Immunotherapy Program at Mount Sinai Health System (New York).