Catherine Joan (Foster) Martinez
October 28, 1941 — September 29, 2015
Catherine Joan (Foster) Martinez
Catherine Joan (Foster) Martinez died after a brief illness Sept. 29, 2015. She was 73. The youngest of seven siblings, Ms. Martinez was born Oct. 28, 1941, to Joseph and Rose Foster in West Hartlepool, England. Life was hard for the Fosters in wartime England. Before Ms. Martinez was born, her parents had lost two children in infancy-- Rosemary and William. Her mother was blind. Her father died in an industrial accident at the steel mill where he worked when she was just 6 years old.
She trained as a nurse and worked in the maternity ward of the former St. Hilda's Hospital in her hometown on the North Sea. It was there, Ms. Martinez would say, that she once had a brush with one of the old hospital's "grey ladies" - protective apparitions reputed to have haunted the converted Victorian workhouse. Late one night, the story goes, Ms. Martinez caught a glimpse of an older woman in the nursery. When she entered the room to confront the intruder, she instead discovered one of the babies having trouble breathing. At age 20, Ms. Martinez accepted a temporary position as a nanny for a doctor moving across the Atlantic to Massachusetts. Her plan was to see the United States and return to England within a year. Instead, she met her future husband Jose Martinez in Boston. They married in 1964, had three children and lived briefly in New York before settling in Providence. Even after their marriage ended, Ms. Martinez remained a part of the very extended Martinez family and lived in Smith Hill for more than 20 years. She became a United States citizen in the 1980s. Never a driver, Ms. Martinez used public transportation to commute to jobs at area mills and jewelry manufacturers, including the F. Ronci Co. in North Providence. Ms. Martinez, who grew up near the seaside resort of Seaton Carew, moved to Narragansett in 1995 to be closer to her daughter Catalina Martinez, who was attending the University of Rhode Island. She loved the sea but hated the beach, her children said. "She was joyful and fun and simply the funniest person I ever met," Catalina Martinez said. "You could always count on her to say something that would just get everyone rolling." In Narragansett, Ms. Martinez worked for more than 10 years at Marty's Laundry, often trading books with customers who shared her love of reading, sports and rock 'n' roll. She built lasting relationships with some of the regular customers before her retirement and counted one of them, Patricia O'Connor, as her best friend. Ms. Martinez sometimes organized used book sales to raise money for charity. She volunteered in soup kitchens and helped deliver food to the needy on holidays. Ms. Martinez was predeceased by her parents and brothers Bernard Foster and Thomas Foster. She is survived by her brother Joseph Foster and his wife Betty, of Guisboro, U.K.; sister Margaret (Foster) Bowes and her husband Kenneth, of Luton, U.K.; sisters-in-law Mavis Foster, of Blackpool, U.K., and Vera Foster of Burton-on-Trent, U.K.; daughter Catalina Martinez and her partner James Roche, of Saunderstown, R.I.; Dulce Martinez of Grantville, Pa.; son Jose Martinez Jr. and his wife Kimberly Fullum-Martinez; grandchildren Robert Martinez, Jose Muccino, Vladimiro Martinez and Sandrine Martinez; along with numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date in Narragansett. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center, 1085 north Main Street, Providence, RI 02904.
She trained as a nurse and worked in the maternity ward of the former St. Hilda's Hospital in her hometown on the North Sea. It was there, Ms. Martinez would say, that she once had a brush with one of the old hospital's "grey ladies" - protective apparitions reputed to have haunted the converted Victorian workhouse. Late one night, the story goes, Ms. Martinez caught a glimpse of an older woman in the nursery. When she entered the room to confront the intruder, she instead discovered one of the babies having trouble breathing. At age 20, Ms. Martinez accepted a temporary position as a nanny for a doctor moving across the Atlantic to Massachusetts. Her plan was to see the United States and return to England within a year. Instead, she met her future husband Jose Martinez in Boston. They married in 1964, had three children and lived briefly in New York before settling in Providence. Even after their marriage ended, Ms. Martinez remained a part of the very extended Martinez family and lived in Smith Hill for more than 20 years. She became a United States citizen in the 1980s. Never a driver, Ms. Martinez used public transportation to commute to jobs at area mills and jewelry manufacturers, including the F. Ronci Co. in North Providence. Ms. Martinez, who grew up near the seaside resort of Seaton Carew, moved to Narragansett in 1995 to be closer to her daughter Catalina Martinez, who was attending the University of Rhode Island. She loved the sea but hated the beach, her children said. "She was joyful and fun and simply the funniest person I ever met," Catalina Martinez said. "You could always count on her to say something that would just get everyone rolling." In Narragansett, Ms. Martinez worked for more than 10 years at Marty's Laundry, often trading books with customers who shared her love of reading, sports and rock 'n' roll. She built lasting relationships with some of the regular customers before her retirement and counted one of them, Patricia O'Connor, as her best friend. Ms. Martinez sometimes organized used book sales to raise money for charity. She volunteered in soup kitchens and helped deliver food to the needy on holidays. Ms. Martinez was predeceased by her parents and brothers Bernard Foster and Thomas Foster. She is survived by her brother Joseph Foster and his wife Betty, of Guisboro, U.K.; sister Margaret (Foster) Bowes and her husband Kenneth, of Luton, U.K.; sisters-in-law Mavis Foster, of Blackpool, U.K., and Vera Foster of Burton-on-Trent, U.K.; daughter Catalina Martinez and her partner James Roche, of Saunderstown, R.I.; Dulce Martinez of Grantville, Pa.; son Jose Martinez Jr. and his wife Kimberly Fullum-Martinez; grandchildren Robert Martinez, Jose Muccino, Vladimiro Martinez and Sandrine Martinez; along with numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date in Narragansett. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center, 1085 north Main Street, Providence, RI 02904.
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