DEL MAR — Martha Kaye, a longtime Del Mar resident whose passions spanned the arts, environmental activism and civic engagement, died on Feb. 18 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 91.
Born Martha Louise Wood on Jan. 25, 1934, in Long Beach, she was raised in Laguna Beach and later attended Denison University and the University of Southern California. Her early years included time in Banning, where her father, Dr. Leonard Wood, rode horseback to care for patients on a nearby Indian reservation.
Shortly after marrying Peter Kaye, her husband of 60 years, she moved to Del Mar, where they built a glass and cedar home on Ocean View Avenue, designed by renowned mid-century architect Lloyd Ruocco. As she raised their three sons — Loren, Terry, and Adam — she pursued various interests, from sculpture and modern art to science and music.
An art enthusiast, she studied at the now-defunct La Jolla Museum School and collected works by Richard Allen Morris and Mac McClain. She audited science classes at UC San Diego, and her diverse taste in music ranged from jazz pianist Oscar Peterson to violinist Itzhak Perlman to avant-garde composer Harry Partch, whom she befriended.
In the kitchen, her dedication to fresh ingredients made her farmers’ market-to-table cooking an art form. That passion extended to the broader community when, in the mid-1980s, she played a key role in founding the Del Mar Farmers Market. As its first board president, she helped establish it as a nonprofit organization that continues to support the community.
Kaye’s civic engagement extended to environmental activism. In 1989, inspired by a former prime minister of New Zealand, she successfully lobbied the Del Mar City Council to declare the city a nuclear-free zone.
“A lot of people initially said, ‘Why waste your time trying to prevent nuclear war,’” she told the Los Angeles Times. “Because when something like this comes off locally, everyone can stand up and raspberry the big government. Because that’s what it is — a raspberry.”
That same year, she was appointed to Del Mar’s Design Review Board, serving a single term. She also volunteered as a docent at Torrey Pines State Reserve and the San Diego Natural History Museum. Alongside longtime friend Ann Silber, she helped establish a low-cost dental clinic at St. Leo Mission Church in Solana Beach.
She was an active member of the Sierra Club’s San Diego County chapter, taking weekly hikes in the local mountains and backpacking through the Sierra Nevadas with a women’s group. She even climbed Mt. Whitney, California’s tallest peak. Travels with Peter took her across Mexico, Central and South America, Greece, New Zealand, Sweden, Russia, Europe, and Canada.
Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2010, she spent her final years in the Carmel Valley home of her devoted caregiver, Alice Rafferty. She died peacefully with her three sons and Alice by her side.
Marti was preceded in death by her husband, Peter Kaye; her parents, Leonard Wood and Anna Bray; her brother, Bradford Voight; and her sister, Joan Kay. She is survived by her brother Leonard Wood of Dana Point; her sons Loren (Sacramento), Terry (Torrance), and Adam (Encinitas); five grandchildren — Nicole, Rhianna, Zoe, Thomas, and Ellery; and one great-grandson, Evan.
Donations in her memory may be made to the UCSD Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center or the Alzheimer’s Association San Diego/Imperial Chapter.
A celebration of life is pending.
