With the guidance of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, former St. Vincent Charity nurse Martha Carroll found a calling in life to serve those in need.  Even in death, Martha continues her devotion to our community’s most vulnerable, leaving her estate worth $478,000 to St. Vincent Charity to support charitable care.

Martha began her nursing career at St. Vincent Charity as a 1950 graduate of the nursing school and then working at the hospital for two years. Throughout her career, Martha expressed gratitude to the Sisters of Charity for the excellence of her training and their dedication to caring for those in need in the city’s core neighborhoods.

“Martha was a humble woman who was driven by her faith and dedicated her life to helping others. Nursing was not only her career, it allowed her to help all people in any capacity that she could and she loved it!”

After leaving St. Vincent Charity, Martha worked at the health department and the Veterans Administration and earned both her bachelors and masters degrees in nursing.  A pioneer in her field, she was one of the first in the country to become a nurse practitioner.

Her nursing career took her to many parts of the country from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota to Texas. In time, she returned to Cleveland to care for her twin sister who was diagnosed with cancer, remaining by her side for several years before her sister passed away.  Devastated by the loss, Martha mourned for a year before realizing that she needed to throw herself back into nursing and did so with the Visiting Nurse Association.

In that role, she cared for some of our community’s most sick and in need.  Once again, she opened her heart to the plight of the indigent. Martha became very devoted to helping others who were so vulnerable. She would eventually retire from nursing, but she never lost her heart for the poor.

Christine Porter who worked in the Development Foundation at St. Vincent Charity and is currently a patient advocate in our Center for Bariatric Surgery was very close to Martha in her final years.

“Martha was a humble woman who was driven by her faith and dedicated her life to helping others,” said Christine. “Nursing was not only her career but it allowed her to help all people in any capacity that she could and she loved it!”

In her life, Martha Carroll gave all of herself to care for the poorest among us, both materially and spiritually. In her passing at 87 years old, she continues to do so. Her generous estate gift, designated for charity care, was a gift from her heart and continues to extend her healing touch to our community.