Jonathan, I’ll try to go, will send you money for whatever you want to apply to.
Thanks for your honoring her, quite a life indeed! John > On Feb 2, 2016, at 10:05 AM, Harry Jacobson-Beyer <[email protected]> wrote: > > Jonathan, > > Email me your address and I will send a card and a cash contribution to you > to use how you see fit. > Harry Jacobson-Beyer > >> On Feb 1, 2016, at 10:56 PM, Jonathan Fletcher <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> MacFriends, >> >> Lee has agreed to turn off Marta’s account for a couple days while you and I >> discuss an upcoming milestone in her life. >> >> Many of you know Marta in person. You knew her when she used to come to the >> Louisville Computer Society meetings. You may remember her as cheerful and >> energetic, or you may remember her take-no-prisoners demeanor. But, if you >> met her you have not forgotten her. The rest of you have seen her posts over >> the years and may have noticed that they are not as coherent as they once >> were. >> >> Well, let’s give her a little slack! Marta is turning NINETY in a few weeks. >> When I feel overwhelmed by my three-score-and-one I just think about her >> being TWENTY-NINE years ahead of me! I can’t even imagine. >> >> Well, as you might guess she has outlived the vast majority of her >> contemporaries and all of her relatives. The one child she did have >> tragically died in his early twenties. And yet, you have to see her smile >> and chat up the room, even now. She’s always been a force to reckon with, >> and even though she has to have 24-hour assistance now, you can still see an >> incredible spark of the dynamo that she once was. >> >> A few points (okay, more than a few) for those who don’t know her that well: >> >> Marta Dietrich was born February 21, 1926 in between-the-wars Germany not >> too far from the French border, grew up to be a multi-lingual teacher of >> great intellect, breezing through her studies and suffering along with the >> rest of her countrymen the horrors of the Nazi regime and the resultant war. >> She told me that her family attended one of the many “Confessing Churches” >> across Germany that had withdrawn from the reprehensible national German >> Church that caved to Hitler’s demands. The churches of the "Confessing" body >> were strongly opposed to Hitler and his mistreatment of the disabled and >> “non-aryans,” and especially the Jews who were a vital part of Germany’s >> prominent upper-middle class. She told me she heard something against >> Naziism in every sermon. >> >> When it was finally over, Marta found herself attracted to the friendliness >> of the Americans she encountered during the occupation. (The French and >> British were understandably less warm to the Germans.) She got a job as a >> telephone exchange operator after the war, drawing the eye of the dashing >> young non-comm that was her boss. >> >> Over the years since, Marta gradually found out that this charmer had once >> been a professional baseball player, saw plenty of action in the war, had >> been wounded, a prisoner-of-war (twice escaping), a real-life spy, a machine >> gunner on the back of a General’s Jeep, had crossed paths several times with >> General George Patton (whose refusal to sign the last dotted line on the >> papers that all his other commanders had signed cost Dayton a Medal of >> Honor), had participated in a scheme among the field commanders arrayed >> along the Elba to deceive General Eisenhower about their crossing the river >> to rescue fellow soldiers AGAINST the direct orders of the Supreme Commander >> of the Allied Forces, and the first person to discover and liberate the >> horrible Wöbbelin concentration camp. For all that he had been through, >> though, Dayton was a warm and generous person. >> >> Dayton was sent back to the states and continued to correspond with her and >> began participating in a shining symbol of the American people’s >> world-renown post-war largess that came to be known as CARE. He sent CARE >> packages to Marta’s family. (Since then, Marta and Dayton came to be sort of >> the “poster-children” for the CARE program up until very recently, even >> getting their picture in the New York Times a few years ago.[1]) >> >> Dayton went back to Germany a little later to collect his girl and they were >> married under a tarp amid the rubble of a bombed-out church near her home >> town. >> >> He had to leave the next day, though, to return to duty in the states, and >> so Marta followed by herself. She stepped off a boat in New York without a >> clue as to what she would do or where she would go. To her immense relief, >> Dayton was waiting for her on the dock. So moved was she that she still >> talks about her “leap of faith.” >> >> They lived in Northern California while Dayton fought in Korea. While there >> Marta went up to Cal Berkeley and took some entrance exams. She scored so >> high in Science that they wanted to make her a Biology instructor. She had >> no interest in that, though. They moved to Louisville when Dayton was posted >> to Fort Knox. Once ensconced in Louisville, Marta had to find something to >> do with her energy while Dayton was away on various deployments, so she rode >> the bus with her young son downtown from Valley Station to Spalding College >> every day and talked them into letting her audit classes. She eventually >> audited every class they offered. She did so well and charmed everyone she >> met so much that they just gave her a diploma. >> >> She caught the attention of the Language Arts department at U of L (or >> whatever it was called then) and ended up teaching German there for many >> years during the 70s and 80s, staging elaborate German-language pageants >> with her students that became hot social events on campus. She served so >> many years there and refused tenure so many times that she had to testify >> that she had been offered tenure, but refused it, just to keep the >> University out of trouble with their accreditation body. She just wanted to >> teach. >> >> During that time she took numerous trips to Germany with her students, >> including many prominent Louisvillians at the time. She counted among her >> students and friends Harvey Sloan, David Jones, and a manufacturing mogul >> from Shelbyville named Charles Grawemeyer. (And those are just the ones I >> can remember her telling me about.) >> >> Mr. Grawemeyer, who went on several trips himself, wanted to donate to help >> students to go on her trips to Europe. The way Marta tells it, it was she >> that suggested to him that instead of just giving the students money that he >> should turn it into an essay competition. We all know that today, UofL’s >> Grawemeyer awards in music, religion, psychology, and "ideas improving world >> order" are some of the most prestigious awards of their kind in the world. >> >> Marta’s great love was learning, with a particular affinity for philosophy. >> Long-suffering Dayton would often come home late at night from his >> post-military job with Jewish Hospital to find the living room crammed with >> students discussing world affairs and the deeper issues of life. Frequently >> he also had to step over their slumbering bodies the next morning. She told >> me that Dayton was her “enabler,” making it possible for her to be who she >> was. >> >> Marta also greatly influenced the choice of Mainz as the German >> "sister-city" of Louisville. You can see the name on various signs around >> town attesting to the short list of cities around the world that claim >> Louisville as a sister-city. I always think of Marta when I see one. >> >> Always tech-savvy, Marta loved the many Macintosh computers she had over the >> years. At one point I actually counted a Mac in nearly every room in her >> house. But not in Dayton’s den. ::-) >> >> Upon retirement Marta continued to travel all over the world for many years >> and stayed active and connected to her old friends locally and abroad, until >> now there are few left but her. >> >> Dayton died on my birthday three years ago, last month. She called to tell >> me. They had been married 62 years. >> >> You are one of her last remaining groups of friends. She constantly monitors >> our postings and reads every word you all write, even though it is getting >> ever harder for her to see the screen on her big iMac. Even up close. That >> is why I asked Lee to disable her account temporarily. >> >> Why am I telling you all this? >> >> Well, one of our national treasures is about to celebrate NINE DECADES on >> this mortal coil. And she’s not ready to shuffle off just yet. >> >> You all have the ability to bring a little sunshine into an old friend’s >> dreary and largely unrecognized, but extraordinary life. >> >> Here are some ideas: >> >> 1. A bunch of us who are within driving distance meet up near her house and >> descend on her place, en masse, with a cake, cards and flowers, (and maybe a >> little singing). I can alert her care-givers to have her presentable and >> ready, without spilling the beans. This would happen sometime around the >> middle of the afternoon of February 21, a Sunday. >> >> 2. We all chip in for flowers and send her a flurry of cards. >> >> 3. You send all your cards to me and I will present them to her with a cake >> and flowers on the 21st. (I am planning on going over there anyway.) >> >> 4. Other: suggest something >> >> Now, we have all day Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to talk about this >> on this list. On Thursday morning Lee will turn her account back on and we >> can take this conversation off the group list. Please let me know, either >> through this list, or directly, if you would like to participate and your >> preference for contribution. Any and all suggestions are welcome. >> >> I hope you will join me in honoring this remarkable woman, who is one of our >> own, faithful, "Macolytes." >> >> Jonathan Fletcher >> >> >> [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/business/08care.html?_r=0 >> >> >> -- >> Jonathan Fletcher >> [email protected] >> >> Kentuckiana FileMaker Developers Group >> Next Meeting: 2/23/16 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> MacGroup mailing list >> Posting address: [email protected] >> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> >> Answers to questions: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup/> > > > _______________________________________________ > MacGroup mailing list > Posting address: [email protected] > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> > Answers to questions: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup/> _______________________________________________ MacGroup mailing list Posting address: [email protected] Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> Answers to questions: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup/>
