A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

WINTER 2009
IN MEMORIAM
The Honorable Judge Martha Ware ’37
Alumna, Trustee, Benefactor
The Honorable Judge Martha Ware,
a member of the Colby Junior College
Class of 1937 and former trustee,
passed away on Aug. 4, 2009, at the
age of 91. She had a long and distinguished
career, with pioneering positions
as a jurist and in local and state
government. She performed equally
important volunteer leadership and
service for the protection of children,
educational and charitable organizations,
and her beloved alma mater,
Colby-Sawyer College.
Born in Weymouth, Mass., in 1917,
Martha graduated from high school
in Abington, Mass., her lifelong place
of residence. She earned an associate’s
degree in secretarial science in
1937 and went on to study at Boston
University and Portia Law School (now
New England School of Law), where
she graduated with an LL.B. cum laude
in 1941.
After passing the state bar in 1942,
Martha became Abington’s first female
selectman, a position she sought in
order to address what she viewed
as the inadequate size of the local
police department and its lack of legal
training. Once elected, she helped to
enlarge the police department and
arranged for its officers to take courses
in criminal justice. She later sought a
seat in the House of Representatives
in the Massachusetts State Legislature,
campaigning by telephone from a
by Kate Dunlop Seamans, Kimberly Swick Slover and David R. Morcom
hospital bed when she was suddenly
stricken with polio. She was elected
and served for three terms (1950–
1956), one of just two women in the
legislature at the time.
In 1956, Martha was appointed
as the first female judge in Plymouth
County, where she served until her
retirement in 1979. She was particularly
proud of her service to children
in the state’s juvenile courts, and she
often said she was drawn to the law by
her interest in fair play and equity for
all people.
Following her retirement, Martha
focused on her philanthropic and charitable
interests. She gave generously
to the college’s Annual Fund, and, in
1983, founded the Samuel L. and May
Davis Ware Memorial Scholarship to
assist students in receiving a college
education. She then joined the Board
of Trustees, which she served with
distinction from 1988 to 1997. The
college recognized her service to the
institution and to society with the
Susan Colgate Cleveland Medal for
Distinguished Service in 1989 and an
honorary doctorate in 1994.
Martha was previously recognized
by the college with the Distinguished
Alumni Award in 1985 and the Alumni
Service Award in 1974. In 2003, she
was inducted as an inaugural member
of the college’s Legends Society,
which includes those who donate
$1 million or more during their lifetimes
to Colby-Sawyer. She recalled
Sept. 4, 1990—when the college dedicated
its Library-Commons building
and Fernald Library as the new Ware
Campus Center in honor of her and
her beloved parents, Samuel and May
Ware—as one of the greatest days of
her life.
Over the years, Martha’s connection
to Colby-Sawyer continued,
often through visits with old and
new friends, including President
Tom Galligan. “Judge Ware was an
incredibly special person. Not only
was she a fantastic lawyer, public
servant and alumna, but she was a
ground-breaker as a woman in her
profession and her community,” he
said. “She was an exemplar to men and
women of what a person with resolve,
intelligence, compassion and concern
can accomplish.”
WINTER 2010 3