Martha Chandler was born in Keene, N.H., on Feb. 6, 1929, and died in Roseville, Calif., on the morning of Jan. 31, 2013, six days before her 84th birthday. She is survived by her husband, four children and nine grandchildren.
Martha attended the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1951, receiving her degree in the School of Art and Design. After graduation, Martha married her medical student husband, James Poppy, on June 28, 1951.They lived in Ann Arbor for eight years, and their children, William, James, Susan and Martha, were born there. In June 1959, they moved to Menlo Park and Atherton, Calif., and resided there until her husband retired from medical practice in 1987. Marty and Jim fell in love with Sun Valley, Idaho, in the winter of 1961, and returned with family and friends annually until they became permanent residents in 1987. They lived on First Avenue South in Hailey and on Deer Creek Road before moving to their current home at The Valley Club in 2000.
Martha was a loving mother, accomplished artist and a woman with many and diverse interests, including athletics. She loved distance running and won the Pike’s Peak Marathon in her age bracket in 1977 at age 48. She was a ski instructor at Squaw Valley, Calif., in the 1970s and ’80s, and was an able windsurfer. In 1987, she was recognized with a cover story in an international windsurfing magazine.
In California, Marty was a tennis enthusiast. Under the direction of friend and Stanford tennis coach Dick Gould, she helped initiate and develop round-robin tennis tournaments in the Bay Area for local residents who wished to support Stanford tennis. Later they initiated the annual Tennis High Ball Classic at Tahoe City, Calif. In 1991, Martha funded a trust to provide ongoing support for Stanford tennis.
Marty loved climbing mountains. She hiked a major portion of the John Muir Trail in California and reached the summit of the tallest mountains in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, New Hampshire and Maine. In winter, she crossed the Sierras on skis from Tom’s Place to Huntington Lake and skied the Haute Route in the European Alps on standard Nordic skis with pin bindings. In the Himalayas she completed the Annapurna Circle, and hiked to the base camp of Everest with a side trip to the 21,000-foot summit of Island Peak. In Pakistan, she climbed above the base camp of K2 and to the bases of Gasherbrum I and II and to the base of Broad Peak in the Baltoro Karakoram.
For the past three years, she had been a resident in memory care in Roseville, Calif., because of progressing Alzheimer’s dementia.
In 2004, Jim and Marty created the Martha Chandler Endowed Scholarship Fund at the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. The scholarships assist with financial aid for qualified students entering the School of Art and Design. Memorial contributions may be made in her name by sending a check paid to the order of the University of Michigan and designated for the Martha Chandler Endowed Scholarship Fund. Send to Ms. M. A. Bankert, the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd., Suite 2055, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
Services were under the care of Wood River Chapel. Friends and family are invited to visit www.woodriverchapel.com to leave condolences or photos or to light a candle.
