Donald R. Marte
Donald Robert Marte, 89, of Doylestown, PA, went to be with his beloved wife, Jeanette Arvilla (Horner) Marte on August 3, 2019. ‘Janet’ passed away on June 26, 2019. In a marriage that spanned 65 years, they were apart only 37 days.
Don was born in Philadelphia, PA, to parents Otto Charles Marte and Theresa (Cardone) Marte. He will always be remembered by his four children; Stephen, Donna (Wally Bott), Matthew (Nancy) and Andrew (Kathy); and nine grandchildren: Zachary, Brittany (Bott), Sterling (Bott), Dylan (Bott), Alex, Lauren, Courtney, Kendall, and Cassie.
Don is predeceased by his brothers Frank and Robert; and survived by his brother, Charles; sister, Carol (Hummel); and an extended family of in-laws, nieces and nephews who respected Uncle Don’s determination and advice.
Don grew up on Limekiln Pike in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. As a sophomore at LaSalle High School in 1944, he made the varsity football team as a tailback. Shortly after returning home from summer football camp in Cape May, NJ, he collapsed. Don was diagnosed with the poliovirus and spent 11 months in the Municipal Hospital for Contagious Disease in Philadelphia, PA.
When doctors told Don he would never walk again, he became so determined to get out of bed, he rocked side to side until he fell on the floor. Nurses tied him down to keep him from breaking any bones. With the help of a nurse named Mrs. Noble and physical therapy, Don recovered the use of his upper body. While confined in the hospital, one of Don’s greatest joys was trading letters with his brothers Charles and Frank who were in the U.S. Army overseas in the Pacific serving during World War II. On June 3, 1945, Don walked out of Municipal Hospital on crutches.
A man who loved to tell stories, Don liked to recount how his father said to him, “Donald, with two bum legs, if you are going to survive in this world, you need to learn to use your head.” His father suggested Don seek enrollment in Central High School, home to the best academic students in Philadelphia. Taking Central’s entrance exam, Don missed a passing grade by one point. His father convinced the school administration to let him take it a second time. Don passed with flying colors and would graduate in 1948. Later he would attribute his business success to his education at Central.
After high school Don began work as a watchmaker. In 1950, at the suggestion of his father, he parlayed his training working on intricate watch mechanisms into building bomb fuses at the Frankford Arsenal, a U.S. Army ammunition plant, in Philadelphia, PA. He was employed at the Arsenal for 17 years.
In 1952, Don met the love of his life, Jeannette Horner. Janet, her twin sister Jane, and older sister Leah, were nursing students at Cooper Hospital School of Nursing in Camden, NJ. After six months of dating, Don asked her to marry him. They sanctified their union at the First Methodist Church in Tuckerton on November 29, 1953. They would become inseparable best friends.
Don and Janet purchased their first home in Roslyn, PA, for $11,000. It was shaped like a shoebox and only slightly bigger. While working at the Arsenal during the day, Don went to night school for five years at Pennsylvania State University’s Ogontz Campus where he studied engineering. During this period, he began selling insurance part-time for Nationwide Insurance.
In 1965 when the Arsenal announced plans to move to Illinois, Don left to start his own business. With Janet pregnant with their third child, Matthew, the family moved into a newly constructed home in Warminster, PA. Don had the garage converted into an office, so that he could pursue insurance full-time. He would build a successful agency and work for Nationwide for over 30 years. When Don retired at age 53, he had three homes; in Warminster, PA, Brigantine, NJ, and Hobe Sound, FL; and not a single mortgage.
Though Don lived most of his life on crutches, he never asked for special treatment. It was only after much pleading from his family that he eventually got a handicapped plate for the car. He was as strong willed as a gale-force wind, commanding as a 5-star general, fussy as an Italian grandmother, outspoken as a theater critic, and as trustworthy as Honest Abe.
Raised Catholic, Don became a devout, non-denominational Protestant, and a member of the Faith Community Church in Roslyn, PA; Warrington Fellowship Church, in Warrington, PA; and Covenant Church, in Doylestown, PA. A member of the Greatest Generation; Don was a hard-working businessman, good provider, and a loving son, brother, uncle, husband, father, and grandfather.
Family and friends are invited to a celebration of Don’s life on Thursday, August 8, 2019, at the Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, 241 E. Butler Avenue (at Sandy Ridge Rd.) New Britain, PA. 18901 . The viewing will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a service led by Monsignor Richard LaVerghetta at 10:30 a.m. Afterwards the burial will take place at Whitemarsh Cemetery in Prospectville, PA.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Don’s name to the March of Dimes are welcomed and appreciated. Originally founded by President Roosevelt as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the organization did much to help Don and other victims of polio.
Morning Visitation
Thursday, August 8th, 2019
9:30 AM - 10:30 AMJoseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, New Britain
241 East Butler Avenue
New Britain, PA 18901Service
Thursday, August 8th, 2019
10:30 AMJoseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, New Britain
241 East Butler Avenue
New Britain, PA 18901Cemetery
Whitemarsh Memorial Park
1169 Limekiln Pike
Ambler, PA 19002