"OUR WOMEN OF SANDWICH"
(2020 Summer Virtual Exhibit)

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MARTHA 'MARTY' JANE O'BRIEN FENN
1929-2017

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Marty, Jerry and Brad

Martha “Marty” Fenn of Dale Road was one of the first people I met on my walks when I moved to town in 2012.  Marty loved growing flowers and had gorgeous roadside perennials that she tended to often. That’s how we started talking and by the end of the conversation I realize that she was a proud summer resident of Sandwich since the 1950s.  She raised her boys with great outdoor adventures. There was a family contest every year of who could swim the earliest in spring and the latest in fall at the town beach.  I learned quickly that she was a stickler for details in all parts of her life.  She was a librarian in her working years, and it transitioned her to volunteering with the Sandwich Historical Society. She was also a talented artist who helped update the map of buildings in Center Sandwich. She talked about how great the view of Mount Israel from her backyard was when she first came to town. Only a forest of large trees can now be seen.  Marty’s straight talking personality was quite refreshing, but don’t ever get caught picking her flowers without her permission!  Coming to Sandwich as a new resident it was important for me to bond with someone who had a deep legacy; it showed me how to appreciate where I lived.
 
Charlene Ouellette, friend and neighbor
​April 2020
​Marty was born in Chiang Mai, Siam (now Thailand), the daughter of Dr. Henry Rust O'Brien and Mary Lou (Phillips) O'Brien.  Dr. O'Brien was a medical missionary with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.  Marty was a graduate of Wethersfield (CT) High School and Middlebury College, and she received a Master's degree in Library Science from Simmons College.  She was married to Giles C. (Jerry) Fenn.  Marty had been a staff member at Colby Junior College in New London, NH and Bennington College. She was medical librarian at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital since the library's establishment in 1970 until her retirement in 2005.  She was a member of multiple health science library associations; a member of the Brattleboro Branch, American Association of University Women; founding member, with husband Giles, of Planned Parenthood in Brattleboro; a member of Centre Congregational Church; and a member of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists and the Sandwich Historical Society.  Her contributions to our  Society were invaluable, and she is greatly missed!