Marta Thomas, mom of two and Southold Mothers' Club member, dies at 45
Marta Thomas was deeply involved in the boating world on the North Fork. Credit: Family photo
When Marta Thomas joined the Southold Mothers’ Club, its membership was meager. After she helped reinvigorate it, nearly 300 mothers had joined, according to her relatives.
Thomas, a dynamo whom they described as "a sheer force of nature," died Monday after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor that doctors said was inoperable. She was 45 years old and leaves behind two young children and her husband, a local oysterman.
Thomas "just knew pretty much everybody in the community," said one of her sisters, Lisl Reuschle, of Mattituck. "She was the life of the party, and just was a very funny, witty person."
She was deeply involved in the boating world on the North Fork, working for years at a family boat sales company that was the longest-running Grady-White dealer in the country, said another sister, Erin Thomas, of Portland, Oregon.
Marta Thomas got the devastating news on March 19, 2024, that she had a glioblastoma. Four days later she underwent surgery as doctors inserted a shunt into her brain to try to relieve the pressure from inflammation and the pain it was causing, her relatives said.
But that, along with radiation and chemotherapy, were not enough to save her. She died in her Southold home, surrounded by her family.
Thomas graduated from Southold Junior-Senior High School in 1998, attended Hartwick College upstate for two years, then returned to Long Island to study at Stony Brook University, where she graduated with a degree in business.
She used that degree in part to help at the family business, Port of Egypt Marine, a well-known boat dealership in Southold that started as a fishing station in 1946 run by her grandfather.
She seemed to have the seawater in her veins and married into a marine family — her husband, Tom Cornell, runs Cornell Oysters in Hog Neck Bay, Southold. Thomas also worked there as a manager.
Her relatives recalled her as a great conversationalist who would ask people numerous questions to get to know them. At social events, people flocked to her.
"She was boisterous. She was outgoing," Reuschle said. "She just was magnetic."
Thomas also is survived by her daughters, Lina, 8, and Vienna, 4; father, Scott Thomas, of Vero Beach, Florida; stepfather, Andy Ruroede, of Orient; and stepsister, Sandy Martocchia, of Greenport.
A wake is scheduled for Saturday, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m., at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold.
When Marta Thomas joined the Southold Mothers’ Club, its membership was meager. After she helped reinvigorate it, nearly 300 mothers had joined, according to her relatives.
Thomas, a dynamo whom they described as "a sheer force of nature," died Monday after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor that doctors said was inoperable. She was 45 years old and leaves behind two young children and her husband, a local oysterman.
Thomas "just knew pretty much everybody in the community," said one of her sisters, Lisl Reuschle, of Mattituck. "She was the life of the party, and just was a very funny, witty person."
She was deeply involved in the boating world on the North Fork, working for years at a family boat sales company that was the longest-running Grady-White dealer in the country, said another sister, Erin Thomas, of Portland, Oregon.
Marta Thomas got the devastating news on March 19, 2024, that she had a glioblastoma. Four days later she underwent surgery as doctors inserted a shunt into her brain to try to relieve the pressure from inflammation and the pain it was causing, her relatives said.
But that, along with radiation and chemotherapy, were not enough to save her. She died in her Southold home, surrounded by her family.
Thomas graduated from Southold Junior-Senior High School in 1998, attended Hartwick College upstate for two years, then returned to Long Island to study at Stony Brook University, where she graduated with a degree in business.
She used that degree in part to help at the family business, Port of Egypt Marine, a well-known boat dealership in Southold that started as a fishing station in 1946 run by her grandfather.
She seemed to have the seawater in her veins and married into a marine family — her husband, Tom Cornell, runs Cornell Oysters in Hog Neck Bay, Southold. Thomas also worked there as a manager.
Her relatives recalled her as a great conversationalist who would ask people numerous questions to get to know them. At social events, people flocked to her.
"She was boisterous. She was outgoing," Reuschle said. "She just was magnetic."
Thomas also is survived by her daughters, Lina, 8, and Vienna, 4; father, Scott Thomas, of Vero Beach, Florida; stepfather, Andy Ruroede, of Orient; and stepsister, Sandy Martocchia, of Greenport.
A wake is scheduled for Saturday, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m., at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold.
SARRA SOUNDS OFF: The shortage of game officials on LI On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks to young people who are turning to game officiating as a new career path.
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SARRA SOUNDS OFF: The shortage of game officials on LI On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks to young people who are turning to game officiating as a new career path.
