Martha Jane Boughey “Marty”
January 10, 1953 -- May 21, 2017
Marty Boughey, beloved wife of James D. Boughey passed away peacefully at her home in San Rafael Sunday evening May 21, 2017. She was 64, and the only daughter of the late Joseph J and Hallie K. Bodor. She is survived by her two step children Lindsay and Conor Boughey, their young children Ellie-Moon and Mason, her older brother Anton and his wife Elizabeth Bodor, her two nephews Nicholas and Christopher, her uncle Lindsay H. Rush, and her cousin Lindsay Rush and his wife Lisa from California.
Marty graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania with a degree in Psychology, and she later earned a Masters degree in Vocational Rehabilitation at Springfield College.
Marty was the first employee of Bayada Home Health Care and was instrumental in the company’s early successes. Several years later she moved west to California and joined Western Employers Insurance Co., where she specialized in major medical and workers’ compensation issues. She was later recruited by Sedgwick James, a worldwide insurance broker, where she became an insurance broker to the California logging and sawmill industry. Marty was an exceptionally independent woman and she thrived in the insurance world. She is remembered as being honest, loyal and very good assessing the myriad of risks confronting the logging industry. She held Insurance Broker, Benefits Insurance Broker, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Nursing Home Administrator Licenses.
This Philadelphia woman met her Chicago man while he was counsel for the Associated California Loggers, and they married a year later. Marty and Jim were a match made to inspire others. They complemented each other in work, family and a life enriched with great food, trips around the world and wonderful friends.
They started their lives together in San Rafael and Marty became the loving step mother of Jim’s daughter, Lindsay, and son, Conor. Marty was an amazing example of what a woman can achieve in both the workforce and as a person entering into a family midstream. She coached the kids into becoming better human beings all the while fostering and maintaining a friendship with their mother, Susannah.
The family took up SCUBA diving and traveled the oceans of the world. Marty had a love-hate relationship with underwater photography, often cursing the camera for failed O-rings while also winning several underwater photo contests; later she became a master of turning vacation photos into DVDs. These collections of DVDs show a life full of adventure and a love for all that the world and life has to offer.
Shortly after Sedgwick merged with Marsh and McClellan, Marty left to join a regional broker so that she could reduce her work load to spend more time traveling the world with Jim. She has worked from home since 2007, managing some of the largest clients of her firm in California and travelling half of each year on 5 continents and as many seas.
Even though her life was cut short, she lived every moment full of passion and adventure. She loved detail and made sure that everything in her circle of influence was at its utter best. She had a kind heart, a warm smile and a wonderfully witty humor. Her broad range of interests made her the life of the party and up for any conversation. Marty was the consummate host and loved to absorb new things, new places and new people. She loved cows, interesting plants and flowers, and music from around the world. She will be dearly missed by all.
A celebration and gathering of family and friends has been planned to honor Marty at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael on Sunday June 25th. Please send an email to the following for details and to confirm attendance: Martyremberance@gmail.com.
Memorial donations may be made to support Avatar Oncology research, specifically the Avatar Project at CPMC Sutter Health. In her honor, please help doctors find treatments and hopefully cures for rare cancers.