Nurse found adventure across the world
Martye Hubbard of Kitchener Born: in Northern Ireland Died: April 22, 2017 of age related illness
Martye Hubbard refused to be defined by her age, even as she tipped over the other side of 100, so her date of birth was her secret.
“She always looked about 20 years younger and had the energy of someone younger,” said her daughter, Sandy Mader. “My mom was amazing, it’s hard to believe that she is no longer a force.”
Granddaughter, Richelle Mader Monaghan, said her nana disliked the way people spoke to her as if she was a four year old once they discovered her age.
Martye was bright, well educated and defied stereotyping.
When her doctor insisted Martye start using a handicapped parking pass in winter when she went to the mall for her morning fitness walk, she refused. The doctor insisted.
“Begrudgingly she took the pass but she’d limp to the front door,” said Richelle. Nana didn’t want anyone to think she was just old. Once inside that mall, Martye was off like a shot on her power walk and on the return trip, she’d start fake limping across the parking lot. “Classic Nana,” said Richelle. Martye had learned to be fierce and capable over decades of an incredible life.
One of nine children born in Northern Ireland, Martye followed a career that would combine her two passions: adventure and caring for others. Though it’s not like she always had a burning desire to nurse, said Sandy.
Her older sister, Pat Adair, was a nurse and the only career option Martye had was to accept a boring desk job at an insurance company. She chose to follow Pat.
Martye trained at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, studied midwifery in Glasgow, Scotland, and completed specialty training at Queen’s District Nursing in England. Her first job was as a country nurse in Northern Ireland.
As rumblings of war spurred many into action, Pat and Martye signed up with the army auxiliary. Once war broke, they were automatically seconded to the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service, the nursing arm of the British army. When Pat was assigned to Singapore during the Second World War, she didn’t want to leave England. Martye agreed to take her place.
“She was happy to go, she liked adventure,” said Sandy.
But, perhaps, the adventure proved more than the young lieutenant bargained for.
The convoy bound for the Pacific, was diverted to Burma, a hot and sticky jungle where Martye was placed in charge of two casualty clearance stations.
Her job would entail riding the Brahmaptura River on a barge, picking up wounded allied and enemy soldiers for transport to military hospitals.
Richelle said she found a 1988 memoir, “The Maturing Sun: An Army Nurse in India” where Martye and the awful conditions she worked under are mentioned.
“It think she was glad I read it, she didn’t have to explain,” said Richelle. Her nana had seen her hospital bombed, friends killed
and too much suffering to ever talk about.
Following Burma — a country now known as Myanmar — Martye was posted to Calcutta and New Delhi. Conditions were better than Burma but still insufferably hot.
After the war, Martye was married for a short time and had Sandra. Mother and daughter returned to her hometown in Ireland where she secured a district nursing position, a job that came with a car and cottage.
As a single mother, this would not be an easy job for Martye, but her parents lived nearby and were available in a pinch.
“I remember being bundled up in a rug in the middle of the night and being whisked down the road to my grandparents where pebbles were thrown at the upstairs window to waken them,” she recalled.
“Off my mom would go to deliver a baby.”
Martye did rounds with the doctor and often on her own but after four years the spirit of adventure hit her again. Martye applied for nursing jobs in Canada and in March 1954 she arrived, working as hospital director in the village of Shelburne, south of Owen Sound.
Martye had no idea what she was getting into.
The hospital was dysfunctional and the board was reneging on its promised pay rate.
Not one to be intimated, Martye told them her bags were still packed, ready to go. They gave in and Martye had a job.
Two years later she was ready for a change again, moving to Kitchener as night supervisor for Grand River Hospital. In 1958 she joined what was then Kitchener Public Health.
Martye next decided to upgrade her education, completing a public health nursing degree at the University of Toronto and qualifications as a public health supervisor from Dalhousie University, graduating in her late 50s.
Martye was made associate director of Waterloo Region Public Health, which by then had absorbed the smaller health units in the region. She stayed in this position until retiring in 1980.
In her retirement Martye explored many interests. She joined a garden club and volunteered for several organizations, including Meals on Wheels and the May Court shop, which raises money to support women and children.
Lynne Schooley is a volunteer at May Court and remembered Martye as “a nice, nice lady” someone who showed up for her volunteer duties all through her 90s and beyond.
“She was always pleasant, upbeat, happy to be here,” said Lynne.
Sally Rafferty added her thoughts, remembering Martye as “fiercely independent” wouldn’t accept a ride even in the middle of winter.
“She was a true lady, truly ahead of her day,” said Sally. “We miss her energy, kindness and thoughtfulness. She was loved by all of us.”
Richelle added, her nana was open minded, often spontaneous but always strong and stoic, not a woman who gave away her feelings.
The granddaughter speculates that, perhaps, it was that British stiff upper lip response to life’s tragedies, a belief that crying “was a little self-indulgent.”