I first met Mary Jo Martin, R. EEG T. at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona in 1969. I was taking my ABRET oral exam and had gone in the bathroom to deal with my rising nausea only to find this tall, somewhat imposing woman leafing through a stack of EEGs laid out on the sink and exclaiming to herself that 'this simply couldn't be happening.' When I expressed interest, she told me her record review tracings had been taken, and these meaningless, anonymous records had been left in their place. As I took the top one from her, I noticed writing on the underside, turned the record over and said, 'Well, this one belongs to a Mary Jo Martin.' She let out this big laugh and said, 'That's me! Oh, you found my records. Aren't you wonderful!' It wasn't until much later when I chaired the ASET Training and Education Committee and she kept sending me tips like 'always keep your page numbers in the upper right hand comer' that I finally realized that she was dyslexic and this was just one of the many ways she had learned to deal with it except on those rare occasions when her nerves got the best of her.
I could not make even an educated guess as to how often I have heard that laugh since that day at Barrow's, and I am sure that each of us who counted Mary Jo as a friend, or even knew her casually, remembers her wonderful sense of humor and positive attitude. And, she did make us feel wonderful. The stories she told were legend, always true, and often at her own expense. The hardships of life had to be overcome, the problems solved. Her infectious laugh had a way of lightening the mood and bringing people together.
As a young mother with two daughters, she was determined to become self-sufficient and braved a winter and the rugged EEG technology training program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This excellent training and her organizational skills provided the background needed to establish several outstanding neurophysiology laboratories. Education was a priority for Mary Jo and she was very proud of the fact that all of the technologists who trained and worked with her at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan; The Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia; and Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York became registered EEG technologists.
Mary Jo was President of ASET immediately after the organization voted against unionization and was a very stabilizing influence at a time when emotions were still running high. She was a progressive leader; our professional growth took several giant steps forward during her administration with the hiring of our first Executive Secretary and the expansion of the Training and Education Committee to offer a bigger variety of courses and to develop teaching aids. She was an active Board Member of ABRET, again pressing for the innovation of hiring a professional testing agency to improve the written examination process. She was a member of The Joint Review Committee on Accreditation in EEG Technology, spending many hours reviewing applications and making site visits.
In her personal life Mary Jo was an avid reader, a very talented painter, and did beautiful smocking and other types of fine hand sewing. She was active in her church and sang in the choir. She was very proud of the accomplishments of her daughters and enjoyed visits and phone calls with their families.
Mary Jo was an excellent ambassador and representative to the larger allied health community at a time when EEG technology was striving to gain recognition and acceptance. She set a standard of performance at work that allowed her technologists to meet registry standards and was instrumental in seeing that EEG technologists nationwide began to have access to the tools needed to prepare for their registration exams.
And Mary Jo was a wonderful friend. Not just to me, but to many others in our EEG community who have had the opportunity to build great relationships as a result of the work we do that promotes and benefits our profession. Mary Jo recognized the far reaching importance and value of ASET, and our Society played a large role in her life. Mary Jo's friends and the technologists she influenced during her long career still have the opportunity to further the growth and stature of our profession. Nothing would please her more.
[Author Affiliation]
Sandra L. Clenney, R. EEG T.
St. Petersburg, Florida
