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Martha Lu McDonald McBride

Date of Death: June 5, 2025

Date of Birth: May 6, 1939

Biography:

Martha Lu McDonald McBride of Topsham, Maine died on June 5, 2025. She was born in Fairmont Minnesota on May 6, 1939 to Neil John McDonald and Villa May Enblom McDonald. She grew up in Fairmont Minnesota on Hall Lake with her parents and younger sister Ann McDonald Nelson, and younger brother Bruce McDonald. Her earliest jobs included taking care of neighborhood children and picking peas on a local farm. She graduated from Fairmont High School as Valedictorian (where the guidance counselor earlier had told her she wasn’t college material) and attended Macalester College in St Paul. After her undergraduate degree from Macalester she attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa where she completed a masters degree in Chemistry. At Iowa State she met Hollis McBride whom she married on August 22, 1964 at Fairmont Congregational Church. They departed for their honeymoon on a sailboat across Hall Lake from her childhood home on Belle Vue Rd.
Martha and Hollis moved to Northfield, Vermont where Martha raised their three children, Andrew McBride, Kari McBride McCarthy, and Troy McBride. She taught Chemistry at Norwich University and received a MAT degree in Biology from Norwich. She also taught middle school science in Montpelier Vermont before returning to serve as a professor of Chemistry at Norwich. When she retired she was a major in the Vermont State militia as a member of the Norwich faculty. She was a member of the American Chemical Society and American Association of University Women. She also co-ran the Vermont State Science Fair (with Professor Mary Hoppe) for 25 years – starting with 12 high school participants and ending with over 200 middle and high school participants annually.
Martha was a strong supporter of women in science and education. She enjoyed traveling, gardening, baking, birds, music, attending sporting events, and spending time with family including her five grandchildren – Shaylee, Seamus, Quincy, Alamea, and Maureen. In July 2008, after retirement from Norwich University, Martha and Hollis moved to Brunswick, Maine and, in December 2014, to the Highlands in Topsham, Maine. In August 2024 she celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary at Rangeley Lake with Hollis and all her children and grandchildren.
The family is planning a quiet celebration of life by the Lake in early August. In lieu of flowers, please consider providing a donation in her name to Bowdoin International Music Festival at https://www.bowdoinfestival.org/support/ or Greenway Institute at greenwayinstitute.org/donate.