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Martina Ames Damerell
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July 16, 1908 - December 20, 2009
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 Martina Ames Damerell passed away Dec. 20, 2009 at the Gold Quartz Senior Retirement home in Sutter Creek. She and her late husband Richard had come to Amador County in 1976. She was born in Denver and grew up in Seattle, moving with Richard to Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, where the couple lived for nearly forty years. Her first focus was her home and family, but she was involved in music always, including some choral work with the Cleveland Symphony. Her BA and Masters degrees were in music. She was a public school music teacher for many years, loving the work but dissatisfied at not really knowing the hundreds of children she contacted weekly, so she earned a regular teaching credential as well, and became a primary classroom teacher.
After other family members had migrated to California, Martina and Richard retired to the southern part of the state where they lived until coming here. She was active in the music programs at both Jackson and Sutter Creek Methodist Churches. After Richard's death in 1985, she continued as a private voice and piano teacher at her studio home in Sutter Creek, until she retired at age 85. In July of 2008 her extended family helped her celebrate her 100th birthday at Gold Quartz.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her three siblings, and her son Waldo Damerell. She is surivived by daughter Martha Robbins of Volcano, her daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and she is dearly missed. Her most notable qualities, besides a radiant smile and a musical soul, were steadfast gratitude and a deep spirituality.
The family plans a private memorial. Contributions in Martina's name may be made to Habitat for Humanity or to any charity offering aid to the victims of the Haitian disaster.
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Services provided by: entrusted to Daneri Mortuary in Jackson
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