Martha Burnham Fortier

Martha Burnham Fortier, 97, of Nashua, NH passed away on March 1, 2025 with so much love around her. After a lifetime of showing us all how to be kind and care for each other, we hope she felt it all come back to her.

Born July 9, 1927 in Hudson, NH to John S and Mabel Burnham, Dibby (never Martha!) was the third of four sisters. Raised in Hudson with those sisters, a dose of mischief and a random dog and goat, she attended Hudson schools until going to Nashua High School. There she met Wally Fortier and their future was sealed. After high school, Dibby became an RN, working at Memorial Hospital for the next 37 years. She married Wally on April 2, 1949 and together they raised 5 children.

Walter “Wally” Jr and wife, Debby, John “Jack” and wife, Brenda, Jo Ann Barrett and former husband, Tom, Michael “Mick” and former wife, Vickie, and Jayne Paskoff and husband, Rob, blessed Dibby with 18 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

This full and amazing tree that she and Wally planted and nourished throughout their 44 years together, until his death in 1993, was strengthened by sisters and in laws, nieces and nephews, and dear friends. And all of these folks were always welcome in her home! You could stay for coffee or a meal, overnight or a while. During that stay, you may enjoy a game of rummy or Scrabble, chit chat over a jigsaw puzzle or watch some late night TV.

Dibby always enjoyed the simple pleasures: a Sunday drive with husband Wally, a bird on the clothesline, playing a tune on the piano, a beautiful blue sky, the sun pouring in the back room as she devoured a book. She may have, on occasion, also enjoyed a cookie or an ice cream. Always hardworking and kind, Dibby had little time for complaining or dwelling on the negative. She took her ready smile and easy laugh with her wherever she went. To her credit, a sense of humor and a dash of self deprecation helped her handle her recent declining memory with such grace.

In addition to her parents and husband, Dibby was predeceased by her three sisters and their husbands: Natalie and George “Bud” Rogers, Barbara and George Cady, and Marjorie “Icky” and William “Bill” Bryant. She is also predeceased by husband Wally’s siblings: Irene and Maurice “Moe” Levesque, Norman “Bud” Fortier, Raymond and Pat Fortier, Lillian and John Gregor, Lucille and Jack Atkinson, Estelle Fortier, and Theresa and Jack Butler. She is survived by a sister in law, Jane Fortier.

A graveside service and celebration of life will be held in the spring. All will be welcome! Details will follow.

If you would like to make a donation in Dibby’s memory, we can suggest Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter at nsks.org or Community Hospice House, 7 Executive Park Drive, Merrimack NH 03054 (hhhc.org).

An online guestbook is available at www.davisfuneralhomenh.com. (603) 883-3401 “ONE MEMORY LIGHTS ANOTHER.”