CAMDEN — Martha “Marty” Martens, 82, died peacefully at the Sussman House in Rockport on February 22, 2022, a palindrome date she would have appreciated.

Martha was born to Mabel and Ted Patterson on August 27, 1939 in Weston, Massachusetts. Marty was proud of her parents. Her father was a long-time supporter of the U.S. Figure Skating Association in Boston. Her mother became the first female select board member in Weston, Massachusetts and started its recycling program.

Marty graduated from Chatham Hall in southern Virginia and attended Skidmore College to study nursing, where she met her husband, George “Buzz” Martens, who was attending Williams College nearby. They married in 1959 and lived in Riverside, Connecticut, where they had two sons, Taylor and Gregory Martens.

Marty and Buzz moved to Camden in 1972 after purchasing the Yankee Stripper restoration business on Route 90 in Rockport, which they operated for the next 25 years. When they sold that that business, they established an antique shop on the property next door called Early Times. A few years later, Marty, a serial entrepreneur, then opened Antique Treasures, a group shop, which she has owned and managed ever since with business partners Sue Hopkins and Kristen Redman.

For years, Marty was known as a leader in good causes for a large number of Midcoast charities including the First Congregational Church, West Bay Rotary, Bay Chamber Concerts, Pen Bay Medical Center, United Midcoast Charities and PAWS animal adoption center, among others. Her companion dog, Emmie, one in a long line of “Westies,” was her constant companion in recent years at work and at home.

Marty moved to a cottage at Quarry Hill in Camden where she has been active in the cottage association, including two terms as its president. Although in declining health for the past five years, her dedication to remaining active in business and the community was an inspiration to all who met her.

Marty Martens is survived by her two sons, Taylor Martens of Northport, Greg Martens of Durham; and her daughter “by love,” Paige Parker of Camden; by her grandson, Parker Taylor of New York City and by Alan Snapp of Castine, whom she referred to as her “third son.”

Donations in Marty’s memory will be gratefully accepted by PAWS animal adoption center, P.O. Box 707, Rockport, ME 04856.

In keeping with her wishes, there are no services planned.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com.

Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.