North Loop Neighborhood Association

On September 29, 2022, neighbors lost a vital community leader and long-time Ridgetop resident Martha K. Ward, aged 73. A native Austinite with a fiery spirit and playful wit, Martha modeled active, inclusive participation in civic life. Her decades-long efforts have shaped the past and present of Ridgetop, North Loop, and surrounding neighborhoods.

A resident of Ridgetop since 1994, Martha was instrumental in advocating for a new neighborhood planning process that would bring extensive community involvement into the City’s development plans. She organized the North Loop Neighborhood Planning Team (NLNPT) from August 2001 through May 2002. For her service to the community, the Neighborhoods Conference presented Martha with a Neighbor of the Year Award in 2001.

Martha took other key leadership roles around affordability and transit in Central Austin. Martha’s neighbor Judy Farley notes that “Long before Austin’s affordability became a common complaint, Martha championed working with Travis County to build Travis Flats,” an affordable-housing complex at 53 ½ and Helen Street. Martha also served as the Ridgetop representative to the North Central I-35 Neighborhood Coalition (NCINC), a group advocating for more neighborhood input into the Texas Department of Transportation’s proposed widening of I-35 through Austin./p>

Aside from her ongoing civic engagement, Martha cultivated relationships and practiced neighborliness in more informal ways. At Martha’s invitation, former North Loop resident Don Smith would join Martha in a monthly “reading aloud” ritual at her house, a practice they kept up for nearly two decades. NCINC Chair Brendan Wittstruck recalls meandering walks, coffees, and conversations together, along with Martha’s penchant for connecting people: “I have friends to this day I wouldn’t have met but for her introductions.” Sharing of people extended to the sharing of plants. Neighbor Donna Boyter still tends to a pot of Cast Iron plant from Martha in a part of Boyter’s garden that she plans to rename “Martha’s garden” because they would regularly sit out there together “during the COVID times.”

A remembrance of Martha would not be complete without a nod to her Texas-sized personality. Friends and neighbors described her as “a force of nature,” “a bit of a maverick,” “bigger than life,” and “outrageous in the best sense of the word.” Martha’s Austin roots ran deep, and she would often regale neighbors with colorful stories of Austin’s history. As former neighbor Bill Yoder puts it, “I can’t recall a time when Martha wasn’t smiling and laughing and telling jokes, and simultaneously castigating the incompetence and selfishness of Texas politicians.”

In her eulogy, Martha’s daughter Mary Alice Kuykendall observed that one of the many lessons she learned from her mom was “the strength and power that comes from community.” Neighbor Patrick Goetz agrees: “People like Martha are the glue that create community and hold society together.”

Below, neighbors share their memories of Martha Ward in full:

• “Martha was bigger than life, wasn’t she? So full of joy, enthusiasm, good will, good humor–colorful, and outrageous in the best sense of the word. I am sorry to see her leave us too soon and will miss her.” -Lynn Denton, co-member on neighborhood planning committee in the early 2000s
• “I met Martha during the neighborhood planning process. She called me a couple of weeks later and asked if Alberto and I would like to come to her house for dinner on Saturday night, warning that there was a catch–we had to bring something to read. “It can be a seed catalog”, she said. For the next 19 years we did ‘reading aloud’ at her house once a month and she came to our house for dinner every Friday night for a little over nine years. We developed a very close friendship and never missed more than a couple of weeks without getting together at least once. (People go on vacation from time to time.) She was all about connections, never knew a stranger, and worked tirelessly to make our community better. There’s a Martha-shaped hole in my world that can never be filled.” -Don Smith, former Northfield resident and friend of Martha’s for 22+ years
• “Martha was such a force. A bit of a maverick with wit and boldness and creative force. And she did really, deeply care about our community so much and really wanted it to be a better place. She brought so much to the process in the neighborhood planning times. And she was also a great supporter of the arts and intellectual pursuits. Her roots were really deep in Austin history. I’m sad that she’s gone and I’m sad that I haven’t seen her in so long and didn’t get to say goodbye. She definitely left her mark, though. More power to her. May she be at peace now. Glad she’s no longer suffering.” -Lisa Schneider, Skyview resident/North Loop Planning participant with Martha
• “I cannot picture Martha without also recalling her insatiable curiosity and her love of connecting people to one another. I first met her through our work with NCINC–trying to get more neighborhood input into TxDOT’s widening of I-35; immediately, she started reaching out, usually just to say she knew something she thought I’d like to meet. Indeed, I have friends to this day I wouldn’t have met but for her introductions. Sometimes, she would convene small groups at her treasured Arpeggio Grill. Our conversations meandered without agenda and I reveled in the stories she and others told of Austin. I will miss our walks and coffees, similarly without agenda, as if only to be expressively present in the neighborhood and ever learning how to listen.” -Brendan Wittstruck, Chair of the North Central I-35 Neighborhood Coalition
• “The first time I met Martha was at the inaugural neighborhood planning team meeting. This was in fact the first neighborhood planning meeting in the entire city, as Martha and a couple of long time neighbors had cleverly negotiated this with the city in exchange for tamping down opposition to a planned day labor facility at the corner of 51st and IH-35. I was immediately struck by what a force of nature she was; always ebullient, positive, diplomatic, and inclusive. I suspect it was literally impossible for anyone to not like Martha. People like Martha are the glue that create community and hold society together. Over the years I have enjoyed working with her on many, many schemes to make the neighborhood and the city a better place. Her heart was always in the right place, and she will be sorely missed.” -Patrick Goetz, neighborhood co-conspirator for many years
• “Martha Ward moved to Ridgetop in 1994, and she proceeded to become an essential participant leader in this community. Long before Austin’s affordability became a common complaint, Martha championed working with Travis County to build Travis Flats, the affordable housing apartment complex at 53 1/2 and Helen. She was so very proud to see the complex completed.” -Judy Farley, Martha’s neighbor for 28 years
• “Martha K. Ward was an organizer of and participant in the North Loop Neighborhood Planning Team from it’s onset in Aug 2001 through it’s completion (COA adoption/approval of the Plan) in May 2002. In doing so she attended every meeting (every two weeks for over a year), provided humor , insight, and sensitivity to the process and dedication to the development of a vision and plan for a vibrant, friendly, and liveable community .In June 2001, Martha was presented with a Neighbor of the Year Award at the Neighborhoods Conference. In the 20 + years since , Martha continued her engagement with the Northloop Neighborhood lending her support, guidance, humor, and socialization to frequent events. In her Eulogy, Martha’s daughter, Mary, said it best when she said that (among other qualities) she learned from Martha is “the strength and power that comes from community”. Martha will be deeply missed.” -Jan Seward, Northloop neighbor and former co-member of North Loop Planning Team with Martha Ward
• “Martha was a good friend, always sharing tickets to cultural events. I was fortunate enough to connect with Marha and her siblings in Santa Fe for a fun day of wine and stories. They were a very loving group. Martha’s accent is of old Texas and quick being lost. She called people Darlin’ in a sweet and inclusive way. We went to the polls together a couple of times and shared a love for truth and fairness.Martha shared a big pot of Cast Iron Plant that grows in a part of my garden I will call Martha’s garden because we sat out there during the COVID times and had a beverage. I will miss her.” -Donna Boyter, neighbor for 20 years
• “I can’t recall a time when Martha wasn’t smiling and laughing and telling jokes, and simultaneously castigating the incompetence and selfishness of TX politicians. She was a keeper, a strong community resource, and a wonderful woman. R.I.P. Martha. We’ll miss you.” -Bill Yoder, renegade from Ridgetop in 2007