Bessie Leola (Powers) Martin

Bessie Powers Martin left this Earth on June 24, 2025 to join her husband Urban in heaven.  She was born on March 15, 1930, the fifth child of Eva (Stoddard) and Alpheus Powers in Elmore, Vermont.  In her 95 years Bessie created a rich legacy of giving for her 5 children,14 grandchildren,13 great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and countless neighbors and friends.

Bessie was a child of the Great Depression who never saw herself as poor.  Her father had heart disease and died when she was young, and her mother was the primary breadwinner for Bessie and her younger brother Marvin.  She shared many stories about how they lived in the 1930’s, but always with a positive spin.  In one journal entry she shares that they received essentials from the overseer of the poor, mostly  flour and lard, but that her mother “knew how to make brown milk gravy for the potatoes, so it looked like there was meat.” When her mother became the housekeeper for Wallace Ainsworth on Brown Hill in Elmore, Bessie took on many farm chores, including milking cows by hand, hoisting the 80 pound milk cans onto the wagon, and driving the horses and wagon through the woods to meet the milk delivery truck.  

The one room school she attended was a magical place for Bessie.  She loved to learn, and she continued that learning by being the first and only of the 6 children in her family to graduate from high school.  She took the train from Wolcott to Morrisville and boarded with a family there for the week, doing chores to earn her keep.  She loved to go back to Wolcott on the weekends for dances, but she often stayed in Morrisville to babysit and earn money for clothes.  Despite the challenges, Bessie graduated in 1948, an honor student who was recognized as a ‘brain’ by her classmates.

Bessie boarded with the Dr. David and Lucy Walker family during her last two years of high school, and that is where she met her husband, Lucy’s younger brother Urban.  Stories abound about the courtship of the outgoing and outspoken Bessie and the quiet and shy Urban.  But the magic did happen, and they got married on the Walker’s lawn on July 10, 1948.  Bessie wrote in a high school essay that her dream in life was to live on a farm in a white house with a red barn.  As luck would have it, Urb had purchased just such a property on Town Hill, the house where she lived for 78 years, the home where she raised 5 children.  Bessie was famous for one-liners, and when the grandchildren began to arrive she quipped “Grandchildren are the desert of life.”  For Christmas gifts, Bessie gave each grandchild a coupon book for overnight stays, and overnights with Gram and Gramp became treasured memories for the Martin cousins.

The work ethic that Bessie developed as a child of the depression was a hallmark of her very productive life.  She helped run the farm from 1948 to 1963.  When new regulations made farming life impossible, she and her husband worked for a time in Stowe, he as a cook and she as a chambermaid.  In 1965 Urban saw a snack bar in Hyde Park come on the market, and he convinced Bessie to take the plunge by telling her “When we buy this, you will never have to cook again.”  

Bessie and Urb ran Martin’s Snack Bar from 1965 to 1985.  Urb ran the kitchen and Bessie ran the front of the house.  Martin’s was a welcoming place and developed many loyal customers over the years.  The food was good, the service was good, and the expectations for decorum were clear.  Many young people from local high schools came in to get food, play pinball, listen to music on the jukebox, and just hang out.  Players on winning basketball teams got free milkshakes.  Bessie put her bookkeeping education to good use in the business, keeping meticulous accounts of all revenue and expenses and balancing the checkbook to the penny.

Urb and Bessie sold the snack bar property to their daughter in law, Dr. Paula Yankauskas, and Bessie began a new career, caregiver for Dale and Paula’s 3 children.  Urb spent most of his time at home during those years, writing a novel about his grandparents, making inventions, and working part time at the Wolcott landfill.  They did check in by phone each afternoon to discuss what had taken place on “The Guiding Light” that day.

Bessie was always involved in local politics.  When her children attended the 1 room school on Town Hill, she worked with the parent group to get paper cups as opposed to a communal dipper at the water cooler, and she started a  once a week hot lunch meal at her sister in law Rachel’s house across the road from the school.  She was elected to the Wolcott School Board in 1981 and served until 1985.  In that role she was a strong advocate for equality and strong academics  for students and due process rights for staff.  She once wrote “The school is the children’s work environment, not another room in their home.  They go to school to become independent, responsible, thinking people.”   She was elected to the Wolcott Selectboard in 2011 and served in that role until 2017.  Bessie had strong feelings about policies and politics at the state and national level, topics that were often discussed at Saturday night coffee get- togethers.  She  was especially passionate about the issues of  human rights and economic justice.

In the 1970’s, the Elmore Methodist Church became Bessie’s spiritual home.  There she became a devoted prayer warrior, filling many journals of prayer requests and answers to prayers.  She has said she has always known God and recently wrote in a journal “I Think I have been Blessed all the days of my life.”  She used any discretionary funds she had to support a variety of charities, many for  underserved populations.

Visiting with people, friends, family, and anyone she met, was Bessie’s favorite pastime.  The covid pandemic and the shut down it caused was very hard for her, more difficult than growing up in the depression.  To stay connected she sometimes sat by the side of the road and gave a friendly wave and a smile to folks who passed by.  It made her family nervous, but she insisted that the travelers appreciated the kindness.  She also told us about several interesting conversations she had with people who stopped to see her.

Bessie is survived by her five children: Merri Greenia (Brian), Urban Martin III, Dale Martin (Paula Yankauskas), H. Timothy Martin (Gale), Lisa Martin-Baker (William).  She has 14 grandchildren: Thomas Greenia, Jonathan Greenia (Francinne Valcour), Katherine Kardashian (Kirk), Kristopher Greenia, Ben Martin (Rhea Esposito ), Danielle Compton (Jon), Cristine Martin (Andrew Gonyea), Sarah Martin (Julius Grazenas), Jacob Martin, Dorigan Martin, Levi Martin, Darienne Martin Baker, Deirdre Martin-Baker, Duncan Martin-Baker.  Thirteen great grandchildren call her Grammie Bessie:  Ethan Martin, Ava Martin, Rowan Martin, Agnes Kardashian, Brian Kardashian, Ursula Kardashian, Olivia Greenia, Everett McNellis-Greenia, Jasper Valcour-Greenia, August Valcour-Greenia, Karrington Compton, Peregrine Esposito-Martin, and Zenonas Grazenas.  Bessie is predecessed by  her husband Urban, a grandson, Trevor Porter, and all of her brothers, sisters, and Martin family in laws. 

The family would like to thank the caregivers who enriched Bessie’s life the past few months.  Dr. Kiely and the medical staff of Home Health, Copley Hospital, and the Manor provided care that meant a great deal to Bessie.  Holly Bjerke, great niece, visited two times a week, bringing treats and the chance for great conversations that Bessie loved.

A funeral celebration of Bessie’s life will take place at the Elmore Methodist Church on July 10th at 11am.  Following the service, there will be a luncheon reception in the banquet room at the Charlmont Restaurant in Morrisville.  Bessie loved sharing a meal with family and friends, and she would love to have you join for some good food and conversation.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the Manor, Making Dreams Come True Fund,  577 Washington Highway, Morrisville Vt, 05661; or to The Mission fund at the Elmore Methodist Church, PO Box 181, Lake Elmore VT, 05657. The Holcomb-des Groseilliers Funeral Home in Hardwick is in care of arrangements.

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