IN MEMORIAM: Dorothy J. Martin, 96;
Retired Teacher Beloved Fly Creek Resident
FLY CREEK – Dorothy J. “Dot” Martin, loving and devoted wife of Peter L. “Pete” Martin and an integral and beloved part of the Fly Creek community, passed away Friday morning, Aug. 18, 2017, at the Fox Nursing Home in Oneonta. She was 96.
Born May 5, 1921, in Pittsfield, Dot was one of 10 children of Leslie Calvin Day Sr. and Agnes Alene née Daniels Day. One of her fondest memories as a child –which she always enjoyed sharing with others – was of one Christmas Day when she and her family traveled through a winter storm by horse-drawn sled to a family gathering.
After graduating from high school, she attended SUNY Oneonta, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in education and later a master’s. Her first teaching position was at Jefferson Central School, where she taught from 1943 to 1946.
On July 25, 1946, she married Peter L. Martin in a ceremony at the Milford Methodist Church.
In 1952, the Martins purchased a home from Howard Aufmuth, Sr. on the corner of Bailey Road and Goose Street in Fly Creek. Throughout their lives Dot and Pete always enjoyed doing research and traced their large red Federal-style home back to the land purchase in 1786 by William Cooper from George Croghan as lot #17 of the Balston Purchase.
During the early 1950s, they offered farm vacations to families from New York City, but in 1956 Dot started teaching first grade in Cherry Valley, which brought an end to the farm vacation folks. In 1963 they sold the dairy and Pete went to college to study agronomy, while Dot continued teaching in Cherry Valley until 1966.
After Pete graduated from college they rented their home in Fly Creek and moved to Tioga County where they lived 13 years. From 1966 until 1977 Dot taught first and second grades at Newark Valley Central School. They moved back to Otsego County in 1979.
For many years Dot was an active, faithful and devoted member of the Fly Creek United Methodist Church. Active with the Women’s Society of Christian Service (W.S.C.S.), she taught Sunday School for 30 years, and will be remembered for the many cards she sent to people and for being the “grandmother” of her church family. She further served her community as one of the original deliverers of Meals-on-Wheels when it first came to the area.
An avid historian, Dot was a long-time member of The Fly Creek Area Historical Society (a vital part of her and Pete’s lives), as well as the New York State Historical Association, the Connecticut Genealogical Society, and Fairbanks Family, Inc. She was also a member of Westville Grange No. 540, the New York State Retired Teachers Association, the Home Bureau and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
Dot will be greatly missed by her husband of 71 years, Pete Martin of Fly Creek; their daughter-in-law, Judy Brown; two grandsons, Martin R. Osterhoudt and wife, Michelle, and Timothy L. Osterhoudt and wife, Meka, all of Oneonta; three great grandchildren, Alex, Ella and Emma; a brother, Leslie C. Day, Jr. and partner, Joan Wilber of Milford; many, many nieces and nephews, and her many friends in Fly Creek and beyond.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a foster son, Charles F. Osterhoudt, who died Sept. 29, 1991; four brothers, Gerald, Roger, Douglas and Leon Day; and four sisters, Irene Lucille Winne Ackerman, Lois Bunn, Jeanette Holden and Ann Marie Day.
A Memorial Service will be offered at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the Fly Creek United Methodist Church with the Rev. Sharon Rankins-Burd, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery in Fly Creek.
Memorial donation may be made to the Fly Creek United Methodist Church for the Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 128, Fly Creek, NY 13337, or the Fly Creek Area Historical Society, P.O. Box 87, Fly Creek, NY 13337.
Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.