Martha Solow

Martha Solow

Lebanon, NH - With her passing, Feb. 8, 2025, we celebrate the remarkable 91-year life of Martha Solow.

Beautiful and brilliant, a dedicated environmentalist, good-government activist and beloved role model to her children and grandchildren, she shared enthusiasm for music, gardening, poetry, outdoor activity, and civic duty.

Martha Patricia Stern grew up in Brookline, MA with her sister Amelia, brother Michael, mother, Janet, and father, I. Henry Stern, who was a U.S. Army Colonel during WWII.

Martha graduated from Wellesley College. She met and married Charles Solow and started a family while Charles attended medical school. They settled in Hanover, NH where their three daughters enjoyed all the gifts of growing up in the Upper Valley. Though eventually divorced, Charles and Martha remained friends until his passing, in 2021.

Martha was an active community member, contributing in many ways, from teaching skiing in the Ford Sayer program, to serving on the Hanover Planning Commission and Conservation Committee. Martha was a longtime member and officer of the League of Women Voters. She was the first woman in town history elected to the Hanover Board of Selectmen. She also served as a Representative in the NH State House and as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. She was active in the NH Environmental Coalition and the Upper Valley Sierra Club. She also helped lead numerous community organizations, including the Health Care Utilization Board and the Earth Right Institute, and was a founding member of the Women's Network of the Upper Valley.

Martha enjoyed hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, skiing, ice skating, and ballroom dancing, amongst other activities. After seeing Woody Guthrie play, while in high school, Martha became a devotee of folk music, an interest she passed along to her family through playing guitar, singing, and her collection of albums. In her later years, Martha discovered writing poetry and was an active member of Fourth Friday Poets.

Martha was a beloved grandmother to four grandchildren, Max-Henry (Clair), Sam, Sofia, and John. She is survived by her three daughters Barbara Solow (Tim Vercellotti), Marjorie Moorhead (Robert), Nancy Solow (Abid Assab), a niece, nephews and their families.