Sollenberger, Martha Macgoey, (1915-2001)

SOLLENBERGER, MACGOEY, DIEHL, SODERLUND, JOHNSON, GARRETT, KAVALOVSKI, GEMMELL

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 5/29/2021 at 15:56:26

Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, Iowa, Friday, June 29, 2001

Martha Macgoey Sollenberger, 86, of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, died on June 21, after a ten-month battle with breast cancer. Born in Webster City, Iowa on May 19, 1915 to Grace and William Macgoey, Martha showed early talent for the piano and, after some years of study with Mary B. Henderson (wife of then Circuit Court Judge O.J. Henderson), became teacher herself to many of Webster City's children. She maintained an overflowing studio of students on weekday evenings and Saturdays throughout her high school years and accompanied many of Webster City's school and civic organizations' musical productions. Martha also was piano accompanist to her mother, who was soprano soloist of the First Congregational Church in Webster City.

A 1936 graduate of Grinnell College, with additional training at Northwestern University, Martha met her husband, Norman J. Sollenberger in Ames, Iowa, where they were both young instructors at Iowa State University. They married in 1939 and moved to New Jersey when Norman was appointed to the faculty of Civil Engineering at Princeton University. From 1941 to 1946 Martha volunteered as a music teacher at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as well as in her community's war efforts. From 1949-1950 they lived in El Salvador where Norman supervised the construction of the Rio Lempa Bridge, the largest cable-stiffened bridge construction in the country up to that time. Norman returned to Princeton University in 1952 where he rejoined the faculty and chaired the Department of Civil Engineering from 1961 to 1971. Martha taught piano privately for many years in Princeton and Lawrenceville and was the music teacher at Trenton's Junior High School Number Four for 19 years until her retirement in 1976. Martha was a long-time member of the Princeton Music Club and an active volunteer to The American Boy Choir School and the Opera Festival of New Jersey. She was a member of the Princeton University League and its Piano Group, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Present Day Club.

She is survived by her husband, Norman, nieces Linda Macgoey Diehl of Largo, Florida, Martha Soderlund Johnson of St. Paul, Minnesota, Margo Garrett Kavalovski of Lawrenceville, New Jersey and nephews Keith Soderlund of St. Paul, Minnesota and James Gemmell of New York City.