In a perfect world, the obituary of Jennifer Martin would read "composing room foreman" at The Carthage Press. It was a job she loved more than anything except her family.
It was 40 years ago this month that Jennifer, fresh from her graduation ceremony at Carthage Senior High School, went to work for The Press as a typesetter.
"That was back in the linotype days," she told me in a 1994 interview commemorating her 25-year anniversary at the newspaper. "I was only going to work here one year. I planned on being a housewife." The hours were long and the pay was low, she recalled. "I made minimum wage. I think it was $1.30 and hour."
She had just mastered the art of setting type by Linotype when The Press went to offset printing in 1971. Jenny's duties expanded. In addition to regular typesetting, she began setting advertising copy.
In late 1986, she was promoted to composing room foreman, a position she held for 13 years before leaving in 1999 after cutbacks in her hours and benefits forced her to look for another job.
Jennifer Martin spent three decades doing a job that has never received enough credit. In the days when editors drew up pages on dummy sheets, it was Jennifer who made those pages come to life, and often made them work in spite of errors made by the editors who sent them to her.
With the advertising department, Jennifer could take a bare concept for an ad and turn it into a masterpiece that delighted both the salesman and the advertiser.
More than anything, Jennifer had an ability to work with the oversized egos that are prevalent in both the newsrooms and advertising departments of newspapers. Though she had to deal with several strong, at times, overwhelming personalities (Jim Farley, Marvin VanGilder, Rick Rogers and Randy Turner come to mind) I can't ever recall her saying a cross word about anyone.
When others left The Carthage Press in the 1990s, even people who spent considerable amounts of time there, Neil Campbell, VanGilder, Jack Harshaw, Jim Farley, and myself, the paper continued to roll along.
Jenny's departure was a different matter. Her last day of work at The Press, was the day the heart was ripped out of the newspaper.
My favorite memory of Jenny occurred over and over through the years. Someone would say something funny, and she would break up laughing, the kind of laughter that brought a smile to everyone's face no matter what the mood was.
Jennifer Martin died Friday morning.
I'm going to miss that laughter.
Thanks Randy for thinking and remembering Jennifer. My daughter's and I still think of her being a part of the old Carthage Press. We have many memories of the years she worked there, many good and some not so good. "THE SHOW MUST GO ON" was her motto. And that was the way she operated. Every time i hear the old Carthage Press brought up, or even when I drive by, I think of my wife of 38 years, and I know my daughter's Melissa and Adrienne feel the same way of missing their mother. Gary
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