For Martha, with love:
This is a place for all of us that new and loved Martha to visit and remember her.
In this space we can share memories and photos, and light a candle or lay a flower.
We will all miss Martha greatly. She was as kind and caring as she was dedicated and brilliant. Martha had an amazing life and accomplished so much in her 41 years. Martha devoted herself to her family and her work, and she cared deeply about her friends and colleagues. She was also an organ donor, and she will live on through others who now have a new chance for life. She will be deeply missed, but her spirit will live on in our hearts forever.
Tributes
Leave a tributeLove,
Craig
Your life, your presence is missed.
Craig,
I want to tell you how much I truly admired Martha. I remember several years back when I came to visit you both in Colorado with Mom and Dad, and Martha gave us a tour of the waste water treatment plant where she worked. I asked her a lot of questions during the tour, and I sometimes wonder if she thought I was just being curious out of politeness. In truth, I was fascinated with the plant and extremely impressed with her, because she worked with so much passion in a field where humanitarian efforts intersect with environmentalism. Even more admirable was how a person with such intellect also maintained an aura of warmth and modesty that I always found very welcoming. Martha was a great person, and she continues to inspire me even after her passing. I’m sorry that she had to leave you and Kat, but I’m glad you still have each other.
Love you brother,
Joe
Truer words cannot be spoken about Martha. She was my wife, my confidante, and my best friend. She loved her family, friends and colleagues from the bottom of her heart. She cared deeply about her work and her research. She had a thirst for knowledge that was unquenchable. She had a gifted mind, yet she remained modest and humble.
As long as I’ve known Martha she has been driven by a desire to do work that she believed was important. Martha did what she did not for herself, but because she wanted to make a difference in the world. She wanted to contribute something important and meaningful. She gave us the gift of clean water. Her work was indeed important.
Martha was taken from us to soon. She had so much left to give the world, so much work left to do, and so much love left to give.
Martha Jean Hahn is now at piece, yet her spirit still guides us.
Martha, I miss you so much. You are always in my heart and in my thoughts.
I love you
Even back then, her passion for improving the world through water quality and availability was palpable.
We have lost a unique, kind, gentle, gracious and benevolent person in Martha.
I want to thank you for your passionate worldview which I remember even in your early years in life. Your sincere convictions taught me early on that I had much to learn about many ideas and opinions many hold to be true without scrutiny. I was happy to learn that this passion never diminished as you forged ahead to make a real difference in this world. You left too soon, but the life and energy you put out into the universe certainly continues on. May we all honor you by aspiring to be lights in this world as you are.
I am sadly unable to attend her memorial service today, but my heart will be there as her life is celebrated. Martha experienced and accomplished more in her short life than most people ever do, so there is much to celebrate. My deepest condolences to all those whose lives were touched by Martha and are having to say goodbye too soon. She was a truly amazing person and I know the world will not be the same without her.
Goodbye Martha. Thanks for all the love and friendship.
Jenni (Allen) Mitchell
I hope you realized how much you positively impacted my life and the lives of others. Your dedication and passion was infectious to those around you. You made me a better person because of that passion. People like you are rare and I feel blessed to have known you.
I can’t count the times I came to you to with work or personal problems or when you came to me, knowing something was wrong. Most of the time there was nothing you could do to help my situation but I always walked away feeling a little better, not sure why, maybe it was just being able to talk to someone who showed genuine concern and compassion, and you always did.
I will never know how you were able to do all that you did, do it so successfully, and still have time for your family, friends and your staff. And as your employee, when you were "on the clock", so to speak, I know you always tried to put your staff first regardless of how busy you were and we were grateful. It showed just how much you cared for your staff.
It saddens me deeply that you're no longer with us, but there is comfort knowing you are at peace and will ALWAYS be in my thoughts and in my heart.
Goodbye Martha - you will be greatly missed
Chris Carson
There were so many good times...the camping trips, climbing and running at Devil's Lake, the last minute dinner parties, sitting on the front porch with friends in the summer watching the sun set and talking late into the night. All of the memories will stay with me.
Miss you Martha.
I miss you so much. I think about you constantly. I don't know how to do this without you. I guess I have to learn. I am trying to get settled into our new home. The beautiful home that we found together, and was supposed to be our home together. I will try to make my way. I know you want me to be happy. It is all you ever wanted.
I love and miss you so much,
C
Leave a Tribute
Love,
Craig
Altruistic Martha
I went to the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) with Martha. In 2005, I interviewed Martha and others for a case study I was writing on the sanitation engineering project in Kathmandu, Nepal that she and Dr. Ron Cohen from CSM were involved in.
Here is a quote from Martha regarding how her interest in international engineering projects developed:
"The first time I traveled, I went with a friend of mine who had gone to Thailand through an exchange program in high school, and she was going back to visit and I just went with her. And then I got hooked on traveling. … I’ve done a lot of traveling...in places like India and Nepal and Tibet, and I’ve seen the value of clean water. And I feel it’s something that we take for granted here. And I feel that I could hopefully do some good by helping people have access to clean water."
Here is a quote from Dr. Cohen when asked about Martha's motivation to be involved in the project:
"Really dedicated. Quite frankly, she wants to do good. There’s a necessity; she sees the problem there. ... She’s just an outstanding, terrific human being. And that’s another benefit from this: you work on stuff like this and you get to meet some really fine people. You know, just when I’m drifting off and starting to question the intentions and the goodness of people in general, and then you get in contact with these people who say, ‘You know, I want to see something happen. I want to see things get better.’ It’s heartening. … You have people who are there for altruistic reasons, you know, people like Martha."
Dr. Cohen said it best: Martha is just an outstanding, terrific human being! Martha will be greatly missed by many.