RE: Year Later, Friends Still Miss Martha

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Year Later, Friends

Still Miss Martha

BY MATTHEW MORIARTY: Staff Writer

Even Martha Tattersall's death couldn't stop her

from making a difference, says Lou , her longtime boyfriend.

After her death in December 2004 - the victim of

a tragic accident - she became the first organ donor after cardiac death in New Hanover

Regional Medical

Center history.

Doctors flew her liver to a man in Kentucky whose liver

was failing due to Hepatitis C. The 56-year-old recipient is a veteran of two

foreign wars, having served in Germany

and Vietnam.

Her kidneys both went to people in North Carolina, and

her corneas would be used to bring sight back to the blind.

The daughter of A.B. Hardee, founder of

Whispering Pines, Tattersall spent her life doing good deeds, says . It's therefore

fitting, he says, that she would continue to do so after her death. He still

wears an organ donor pin on his chest.

" She wasn't done, " he says. " She

had so much left to do. "

She and began a 23-year love affair in

1981, when he was food and beverage manager at the Whispering Pines Country

Club, where Tattersall was the general manager.

He was going through a divorce and she was

already divorced. They began going out for a Coke or a pizza, says, and it

became something else.

" Every day was a story, " he says,

" a new adventure. "

Tattersall once told him that she wanted to work

another 15 years. She was working for a home mortgage lender by then. Another

15 years would have put her well into her 70s.

" I said, 'You don't know how old you are,

do you?' "

says. " She said, 'Probably not.' "

Struck in Parking Lot

Tattersall was fatally injured on Dec. 11, 2004,

in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Wilmington.

She had gone to Wilmington

to watch a friend's son graduate from college. She was walking back to her

car in the parking lot with friends.

In another part of the parking lot, two women

were fighting. Phelps jumped into her Ford Mustang and sped away from

Shelton, who was threatening her. Both women worked together at Pure

Gold, a Wilmington

strip club.

According to the investigating police, Phelps

sped away from the scene. She lost control of the vehicle and struck

Tattersall, pinning her between the Mustang and her own car.

Doctors kept Tattersall alive on life support

for three days so that they could harvest her organs.

Investigators charged both Phelps and Shelton with involuntary

manslaughter. Tattersall's family and friends worked with the district

attorney's office in Wilmington

to get as strong a sentence as they could. But in the end, there really

wasn't much that could be done.

Phelps pleaded guilty to a lesser charge:

misdemeanor death by vehicle. She received a sentence of 45 days. Shelton pleaded guilty

to the rather minor charge of injury to personal property.

The family agreed to the plea bargain because it

didn't want to go through a trial, says Tate Tattersall Garrison, Martha's

daughter.

" She [Phelps] apologized to the family and

was remorseful, " Garrison says. " It was a tragic accident. Her

punishment will sit with her for some time. "

says that he believes that Tattersall has forgiven the

young girl and that in time the family can as well.

" Mom wasn't a vengeful person, "

Garrison says.

'Magical to So Many'

Tattersall's friend Sandy Berger presented with a book

inscribed with the words " She Brought Magic Into Our Lives. " says he never

thought about it that way, but now he's sure of it.

" She was magical to so many people, "

he says.

lives in the home Tattersall grew up in, the former home

of Hardee. When he misses her, he can look out over the lawn designed by her

father. He feels her presence there.

Across the street is a memorial garden put there

by the Whispering Pines Garden Club. In the back yard is another memorial

garden overlooking Pine

Lake.

" You feel like she's here a lot, " says.

's company is a cat named Caroline that Tattersall took in

as a stray. Though he didn't like the cat when Tattersall was alive, he says

that now the two of them comfort each other.

" She's kind of become my confidant, "

he says.

Now that it's been a year since Tattersall's

death,

says things have gotten easier. He recently got to the point where he could

talk about her and reminisce about the good times. He says there are many

people who are dedicated to keeping her memory alive.

Tattersall is missed at Emmanuel Episcopal

Church in Southern Pines, where she was an active parishioner and clerk of

vestry and taught Sunday school.

'Made a Difference'

The Rev. Janet Watrous, interim rector at

Emmanuel Episcopal, says the church unveiled a memorial children's library

for Tattersall on Nov. 27. Many of Tattersall's family and friends showed up

for the unveiling.

" It's clear to me how dear a person she was

to this congregation's life, " says Watrous, who joined the church after

Tattersall's death, " She had a love for children. [The books will] all

get dog-eared, and I think that would make her very happy. "

Garrison agrees. She says that her mother always

said she would like to read to her grandchildren.

Those who knew Tattersall say that the past year

hasn't diminished her effect on the community.

" When I die, if two to three people say I

made a difference I'll be happy, "

says. " If you polled all the people who knew her, they'd all say she

made a difference. That's about the best thing you can say about

somebody. "

http://www.thepilot.com/news/010106Martha.html

[Non-text portions of this message have been

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“When we fail to

recognize the lives of those around us, we invariably diminish

ourselves.” – Ursula Copeland

Johanna Koskinen

Executive Director/Outreach Coordinator

Email: johanna@...

Website: http://www.hepcmo.org