NAGE Mourns Passing of Selfless and Dedicated Union Leader
August 22, 2007
Martha Knight, a 20-year NAGE member and longtime president of Local R4-106 and R4-26, died Monday, August 20, leaving thousands of bargaining unit employees and national staff mourning the loss of a selfless and dedicated union leader.
Martha was a tough and tenacious local president who never backed down from a fight if going to battle would make someone else’s life a little bit easier and their job a little bit fairer. In an interview a year ago, she explained that helping people made her happiest and that seeing a smile on the face of a member she had helped made the difficult days of union leadership worth it.
“I love NAGE,” she said. “NAGE is in my heart and I believe in what the union stands for. Being disabled, there are a lot of things I can’t do, but I can speak for people to make their lives better, and that fulfills my life.”
Martha never had it easy. Not at three months old when she was diagnosed with polio, and not as child who endured 18 surgeries by the time she was 15. Her first husband died in a construction accident, and her second husband—the soul mate she calls her “right-hand” man—is legally blind. The scar tissue that healed the physical injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident at 17, also took away his sight.
In 1994, Martha took a hard fall and could no longer walk. She said she resisted using a wheelchair at first, but then, like every other obstacle in her life, just figured out a way to deal with it.
“I’ve made it this far with endurance, patience and a “one-day-at-a-time” attitude,” she said a year ago. “These are all just obstacles I’ve had to overcome, but I still feel blessed in so many ways.”
Although she could have retired from employment in 1982, she decided to go back to school and earn her college degree in business administration. Three days after graduating on May 1, 1985, Martha took a job at Langley.
Arriving at Langley, she said, was the first time she ever felt disabled. Although not yet in a wheelchair, she had difficulty walking and was surprised to see that the base had limited handicap-accessibility. In our interview, she was proud to report that it didn’t take long for the base to go from about 10 percent handicap-accessible to almost 90 percent. She credited the union and a civil engineer for making it happen. Martha was too modest to take credit for much of what she did.
A little over a year ago, Martha summed up her strong religious faith and her selfless devotion to others when she told me, “I often say, ‘Lord, if I can help make a difference in just one person’s life …”
Martha, I said, you already have.
Martha is survived by her husband, Charles; her daughter, Elizabeth Carolyn Hawkins; her sons, Richard Earl Belcher, Jr. and Christopher Allen Belcher; her grandchildren, Dylan, Tiffany, Amelia and Nicole Belcher; her twin sister, Mary Tyree; her brothers, Jimmy, Timmy, Dennis and Gene Lilly and many nieces and nephews.