Esther Jean (Haines) Martin, 91, died July 8, 2013, surrounded by her sons in Old Zionsville where she lived with her oldest son. Born in New Burlington, Ohio, she was a daughter of Everett E. and Eva Ruth (Compton) Haines. Raised in a Quaker (Society of Friends) family and community on a farm with four brothers, she grew up with vivid stories of the Civil War era Underground Railroad which passed through their family barn, events which took place 60 years before she herself was born.

As a girl EJ was a talented musician specializing in accompaniment, gaining early professional experience and adventure touring with her oldest brother Willard who was a professional tenor. She knew Beethoven's symphonies well, playing them many times in four-hand piano arrangement. She attended Wm. Penn College, in Oskaloosa, Iowa to study music education and there was crowned the homecoming queen before graduating in 1943. College was followed by a year of teaching music in public school.

The Quaker connection next led to Philadelphia where she was a founding member of the legendary Pine Street Cooperative, which remained a point of pride all of her life. In Philadelphia she worked for the American Friends Service Committee, a state mental health hospital, and also joined the Bach Choir of Philadelphia in 1946. While singing the B Minor Mass she met fellow singer Dr. Frederick H. Martin, M.D. of Emmaus who had recently returned from active military duty in Japan. They were married late that same year and remained a devoted couple for 56 years.

In Emmaus and Old Zionsville she was an energetic wife and mother organizing friends and family events. Her four sons all learned her sensibility of aesthetic value as expressed by her love of music, flowers, animals, relationships, contemplation, and silence. Genealogy and local history were a fascination but she guarded against hearsay traditions, insisting on original documentation. Her 1976 monograph "A 1776 Visit to Colonial Emmaus" was a source of pride. When in 1977 her husband suffered a severe motorcycle accident, she dedicated herself to 25 years of loving care and always insisted that those were among the most tender years of their marriage. She sang and played the piano every day until her last year.

She is fondly remembered by many friends who visited her kitchen table frequently to share her eternal supply of tea, as well as 11 grandchildren between ages 28 and 3 years (Sophia, Nicholas, Zora, Maya, Philip, Sabrina, Peter, Estelle, Daniel, Greta, and Lydia), two sister-in-laws, Marjorie Haines and Audrey Haines; four sons, Willard O. of Zionsville, Leslie F. of Wauwatosa, Wis, Daniel L. of Palo Alto, Calif., and Matthew H. of Arlington, Mass.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Emmaus Historical Society, 563 Chestnut St., Emmaus, 18049 or the Upper Milford Historical Society, 5831 Kings Highway South, Old Zionsville, 18068.

Services will be held at the Emmaus Moravian Church 10:30 a.m. Aug. 17, to be followed by a reception in the Zionsville family home.