Mary Joan Martin

Mary Joan Martin, 81, of Ridgefield, died peacefully of complications due to her extreme stubbornness and insistence on always having things her own way on Friday, October 25, 2024. 

Mary was born in Wilkes Barre, PA on February 18, 1943, a daughter of the late John and Mary (Frail) Corcoran. She grew up on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River in the borough of Kingston, PA at 73 Pringle St. She attended St. Ignatius and West Side Catholic Schools in Kingston and graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, in Wilkes Barre, with a degree in Nursing. Upon her graduation from Nursing School, she moved to New York, where she worked at New York Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Westchester Square Hospital.

She was married in 1967 to Ernest A. Martin Jr. The couple resided in the Bronx and Croton-on-Hudson, New York until their divorce. Mary worked in nursing supervisory positions for two health care agencies in the early 1980s and then returned to nursing, working at the Dominican Sisters of the Sick and The Poor and as a hospice nurse at Phelps Memorial Hospital until her retirement.

Mary was first and foremost a care giver and beacon of solace for her hospice patients. She had a special gift for attending to terminally ill pediatric and young people, a limitless empathy for people in crisis and pain. Mary could always be counted on for a funny or sarcastic comment on a given absurdity of the day, a warm smile, and a sympathetic ear. Anyone that knew Mary, understood that she lived her life on her own terms, held strong to her beliefs, and would yield to no one.

Mary, moved to Ridgefield to be closer to her son and his family shortly before her retirement. For the last 10 years she lived with her son’s family and learned that she loved matzoh balls and despite her love of the family’s pet chickens refused to relent on her distaste for eggs. Mary also loved plants and gardening, playing solitaire, going out to lunch, anything purple, Cape Cod, traveling, and Talbot’s.

Mary is survived by her two children: Christine Alshin and her husband, Adam, and Michael Martin and his wife, Marie Ascher; her grandchildren Finlay Rose and Violette Alshin, Emmet and Samuel Martin, and Melissa and Jade Ascher; and her brother John-Paul Corcoran and his wife Dr. Virginia Corcoran. In addition to her parents, Mary was predeceased by a grandson, Zachary Norman Porterfield and her beloved dogs Kiwi, Barnabas, Odin, Tempo, and Laszlo.

Family and friends will be received on November 14, 2024 at 6:00 PM at Kane Funeral Home; 25 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut. A prayer service will be offered at the funeral home at 7:30 PM. Interment will take place privately in Hanover Township, PA. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to https://seeingeye.org/ or https://roar-ridgefield.org/

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Joan Martin, please visit our floral store.