My remarks, at Martha's funeral servcie.

Eric (her brother)

Martha Mason

November 12, 2022

Eric Schwartz

Good morning.

I’ll start by expressing my thanks to those who were such a part of my sister’s life. And to those of you, most of you, who have referred to my beloved sister as Mo, please excuse my use of her given name, Martha, as that’s the name I’ve always used.

Thanks, to Lise, to Karl, to Helen, and to Cathy, to our children, Rachel, Rebecca, DJ, Anna, and Sarah. Thanks for the love and support you provided to Martha and the ways in which each of you are seeking to honor her wishes and her memory. Thank you to Al’s grandson, Micah, who played such an important role in Martha’s life over the past five years. Also, our deep appreciation to Martha’s friends on Fire Island, and our wider circle of relatives and friends.

In fact, I want to start not with my own reflections of Martha, but rather want to paraphrase the reflections of others—first, because I’m feeling a grief that is overwhelming, and it would be hard for me to get through remarks talking exclusively about my own feelings about my dear departed sister; and second, because the comments of those who interacted Martha, day-in and day-out, in recent years paint a picture of dynamism that ran through Martha’s entire life.

So let me begin with a relatively new friend from Fire Island communities of Ocean Beach and Seaview, Kelly Becks.

Kelly commented on the grief that she and so many others are confronting:

The world lost an amazing force. Mo Mason was in my life for a short time, but her impact will stay with me forever. It started with a text a couple years ago. “Hi Kelly. It’s Mo Mason who lives down the block and is here year-round. There are so few of us that we really need to know each other and help each other out.” And help each other we did. I joked that we had a symbiotic relationship where each easily provided what the other desperately needed. Mo became a surrogate mom figure to me- an older, wiser confidante who held my hand, encouraged my overdue tears, and frequently gave me the stern talking-to I needed. When her social circle shrank from friends passing away and moving off Fire Island … she welcomed the new island arrivals and taught us all Mahjong. She liked to joke that she attended more 40th birthday parties recently than she did when she was 40.

Dee Michelle, another Fire Island friend, commented:

I write this with tears in my eyes I never thought this day would come. Mo, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you have done for me. My winter mornings here on Fire Island will never be the same. I will miss coming over—you were a joy to always be around. I will miss your sassiness and mostly your unconditional love. You were the grandmother I wished I had growing up. You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.

David Rockwell, who had a summer home in Seaview, wrote to our family…

Mo’s passing weighs heavily on all who knew her. She was a bright light in Seaview; a beacon of truth and integrity who spent endless hours to ensure that her community was led by people who were accountable for their initiatives, and responsible for their actions.

Martha’s dear friend Rachel Doering, of Rachel’s restaurant in Ocean Beach, wrote to us about her relationship with Martha.

We shared life on Fire Island for 20 some years. … We were not just beach friends. Even our dogs were best friends. Martha was my go to for EVERYTHING concerning technology. She always found the solution, and she never stopped helping. After the pandemic, she found so many new young friends. She said she was the happiest she'd been in years because of this. I'm only happy that she experienced this before the tragic and painful last two weeks of her life. Hopefully, soon, we'll be able to celebrate her amazing life and find comfort in knowing she's at peace.

David Stone, a Fire Island friend who wrote on behalf of his wife Nancy and their family, also commented:

Martha was s source of inspiration, a pragmatic guide, a confidante and most importantly, a dear, dear friend whom we were overjoyed to be with. We were not ready to lose you and we love you and will miss you terribly, but at the same time rejoice at having known you.

It has also been gratifying learn more about the impact that Martha had on students at Adelphi University, where she served as an adjunct member of the faculty. After she went into the hospital, the texts she received on her mobile phone from concerned students were on the one hand heartbreaking, but on the other, heart-warming, offering an indication of the respect and affection she had earned. Associate Professor and administrator Lori Wolf wrote --

Mo was such a dynamic, thoughtful and energetic person. We valued her at Adelphi more than I can express.

Another Adelphi colleague, Evelyn O’Connor, commented:

It is not hyperbolic to say that Mo always gave 150% to every class she taught. This summer I had a student who needed a supervisor for a special project. I told the student that if I didn’t do it myself, I knew only one person I could trust to take on this role. Of course, Mo agreed. Her students loved her! I also loved her and I will greatly miss her. The students spoke about how special and devoted she was as their professor.

And Adelphi was not the venue in which Martha was involved with students. She tutored many young people on Fire Island, and loved substitute teaching at the Fire Island School—and talked with me about how she wanted to deepen her engagement there.

Traci Murphy, of the Fire Island School District, wrote that the new superintendent, who had only recently met Martha, was sending a letter home to parents, with resources for any students who may be feeling grief or loss.

Traci wrote:

We are eager to recognize Martha’s devotion to the students of the school and how much she will be missed.

Of course, I don’t want to neglect Martha’s life before the last 20 years, but I’ve already gone on for too long.

Nonetheless, I would be remis if I did not mention what Helen so beautifully laid out in large measure in Martha’s obituary—her love of theatre, her prior career in theatrical and television production, in New York, California, and various parts of the country, her loving marriage to Al Simon, which gave her so much joy, her other connections, to so many places, like Wayne State University and our dear family friends in Detroit and to her former life in California.

And of course, her love and her devotion to our parents Jack and Cynthia Schwartz, who took her as a child from Alabama, to Chicago, to New York—and to Syosset.

Indeed we’ve also heard from friends with whom we grew up, on Patricia Lane in Syosset, more than 50 years ago. One of them, Brian Treiber, put it simply when he wrote

Martha was always the cool person on Patricia Lane.

As I prepare to close, I’ll repeat much of what I have said in my written messages over the past few days.

My heart is broken at the loss of my beloved sister.

She was what all her friends and colleagues described, and more. Saddled with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—an affliction that she barely would acknowledge—and the need for supplemental oxygen at all times, she nonetheless drove her jeep across the beach and over the Fire Island Bridge to teach education students at Adelphi University, continued to swim in the bay and to tool around Ocean Beach with the aid of scooter, hung out with 80 and 70 year olds, 60, 50, and 40 year olds, and Fire Islanders younger than that, and led such an active life. Her plans for a lung transplant reflected her determination to carry on, and they were tragically frustrated when, after entering the hospital with COVID, she fell from her stretcher and badly broke so many ribs—an event that ultimately led to her death.

But even as she lay in her hospital bed after that accident in such utter pain, she reached out to the transplant doctors at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and wrote to us by text that she had been assured that her accident was only a bump in the road. I could easily envision—all of us could easily envision—her making that call.,

So it is hard for all of us to avoid the belief, the conviction that she both left this world and was taken from us too soon; that it was not her time to go. And while that only increases my own overwhelming sense of sadness and grief, that vibrancy is exactly the way I want to remember my sister. A kind, engaging, dynamic, life-long learner committed to making the most of each and every minute of each and every day.

May your memory be a blessing, and may the way you lived your life – with such relentless perseverance – may that relentless perseverance be an inspiration to all of us.

I share your sadness at the passing of my favorite sister's eldest child, my special niece Martha Ellen Schwartz.

I will miss hearing her warm and unique voice on my answering machine, calling to check on my health.

I will miss her terrific self-effacing sense of humor -- surely inherited from her mother.

I will remember Martha as a vivacious, blond three-year old, running around the college theatre in 1953, where Jack was teaching in Alabama.

Yes, Martha, I shall always remember you fondly.

Uncle Alvin

I’m sorry to miss saying goodbye to my dear cousin Martha. The first time I saw her was in a picture-some kind of photo shoot. She looked so beautiful. Then she came to California. I was in awe. (Maybe 7 years old) I thought she was a movie star. I can’t say enough about the wonderful host she’s been to me in NYC and beyond. I will miss her-that laugh especially. Sending love to all my cousins.

Remembering the fun we shared at the SPA in Mexico only a few years ago! A lifetime of cousin loving memories. Rest in your well earned peace Marilyn

Thoughts of Martha will always make me smile, from remembering trips to Lollipop Farm and Woodbury Country Club to sharing adventures in NYC. Dear cousin Martha, you have my love and respect.

Cousin Al

Our family trees are forever intertwined.

Our grandmothers were "Camp Mothers" together. That's what Martha and Lisè always called it, although I don't really know what that means; Matrons at some Catskill Kids Getaway is my guess.

Our fathers met at Boy Scout camp in the late 1930's and reunited on the Syosset Station platform of the Long Island Railroad.

Our mothers first crossed paths at a PTA meeting, liking each other, unaware of the connection their husbands shared.

And Martha and I met in Junior High. We belonged to the same Pool Club, and hung out together all summer. Martha didn't know how to swim. That wouldn't do, so I taught her how. She was a quick study because later, she worked in college as a life guard! We were always in the water except when doing the Loco-Motion.

It was a short bike ride from my house to Casa Schwartz and I made it often. There, I learned the wonders of coffee milk, Charles Chips and changing the slipcovers on living room couches with the seasons. There was lots of lively action on Patricia Lane. I always felt welcome and happy to be part of the activities with all the Schwartz siblings.

I remember visiting with Martha a couple of times on Fire Island with my son. DJ was summering with Martha and he and my Sam had fun riding waves and becoming waterlogged friends. We were proud to introduce the next generation and continue this beautiful history.

When Martha would come up to the Boston area to see DJ, she and Lisè would often visit with my parents and me, too. We all cherished those visits.

I loved meeting Eric and Karl's kids this past summer DJ's graduation reception. More generations, more history.

Thank you, Martha, for being my friend and a member of my chosen family. I'm really going to miss you.