Editor’s Note: This profile is the last of six stories about students and alumni leading up to LovEMU Giving Day, which is today. For more information about the day and how to donate, visit: love.emu.edu
If you’ve ever attended an art show at the gallery that bears her name, stepped foot inside one of the many buildings on campus she helped to finance, or benefited from her endowed scholarship fund, you’re likely already familiar with the name Dr. Margaret Martin Gehman. What you might be less familiar with is the legacy of generosity and selfless service she embodied at EMU.
Gehman received a two-year degree from EMU in 1942 and joined the faculty in 1944; she taught art and physical education classes until her retirement in 1987. The professor emerita taught a watercolor class through 1996 and served regularly as a volunteer on campus and with other local organizations. She was among EMU’s most generous philanthropists, establishing an endowed scholarship fund as well as program endowments for athletics, the humanities and special buildings on campus. In 2005, she became the first recipient of the eponymous “EMU Philanthropist of the Year” award. She died in August 2019 at age 97.
Nearly a half-dozen years after her passing, Gehman’s boundless generosity continues to flourish and shape lives at EMU. A recent $400,000 gift from her estate will bolster the Margaret Martin Gehman Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provides general financial aid to undergraduate students. The gift increases the endowment fund to more than $500,000, which is expected to generate about $25,000 in direct financial aid each year.
While the fund previously supported one to two students each year, it can now benefit at least five students annually, according to Kirk Shisler ’81, vice president for advancement. “Margaret loved EMU,” he said. “She maintained continuous loyalty and appreciation for the students, alumni, many of whom remained her friends, and the strong sense of community she enjoyed throughout her many years here.”
As one example of her love for EMU, look no further than the time she donated her beloved 1967 blue Volkswagen Beetle in 2010 to support student scholarships. “EMU has been good to me over the years, and this is another way I can express my appreciation,” she said in an article about the donation.
Shisler said the latest gift from her estate brings Gehman’s total contributions to EMU to just under $2 million. “This puts an exclamation point on her many decades of support,” he said.
In a 2012 article celebrating her 90th birthday, Gehman credited her parents with “teaching the value of a lifestyle of simplicity and generosity.” “The Lord … has blessed me with the ability to serve and the opportunity to share with others,” she said.
For much of her time at EMU, Gehman was affectionately known as “Speedy.” A student had bestowed the nickname on her, not only for introducing the game of speedball to campus but also for her energy, athleticism, and swiftness. “She would dash across campus between classes,” Shisler said. “She would practically run from one place to another.”
Even in her later years, the speed never left her. Braydon Hoover ’11, MAOL ’21, vice president for enrollment and long-time advancement professional at EMU, recalled watching his wife, Heidi Hoover ’10, escort Gehman to the art gallery named after her. “I will never forget the image of ‘Speedy,’ at 94 years old, taking off down the hallway with my dear spouse having to jog to keep up with her, walker and all,” he said. Hoover, like many on EMU’s advancement team, also knew the longtime donor by another name: “Saint Margaret.”
One lesser-known detail about “Saint Margaret” was her love for lending money to people and organizations in need. On several occasions, Shisler said, she loaned money to EMU to fund certain projects. “Sometimes, she would turn around and forgive those loans, converting them into outright gifts,” he added.
The fleet-footed philanthropist was a trailblazer, ahead of her time in many ways, as her nickname might suggest. She was among the first women graduates of EMU to earn a doctorate, receiving hers in art education from George Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) in 1962. Despite her plain dress and head covering, which may have given the impression that she was conservative, Gehman “flowed with the times,” according to Shisler. “Her loyalty to EMU never wavered, even through periods of change and various cultural headwinds,” he said.
EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman described Gehman as “one of the most interesting, engaging, joyful and nonconformist” donors she’s ever met. Former EMU President Dr. Loren Swartzendruber has praised Gehman for her “incredible gift for frugality and generosity, a rare blend that you do not typically find.”
It was this frugality that became the stuff of legend. Today, those on campus who were lucky enough to have known her exchange stories of her resourcefulness and ingenuity with a smile. Gehman was known to keep her lights off as long as possible to save electricity. In the evenings, as the sunlight faded, passersby could spot her silhouette in the window, leaning toward the nearest streetlamp with a book in her hands to get enough light for reading.
Your generous support helps students pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 9th annual LovEMU Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future EMU students. Together, we can help write EMU’s next chapter.
Read the previous profiles in our A Royal Tale series:
We were privileged at Mennonite Media (next door to EMU) to have Speedy Gehman in her later years, volunteer in our basement to help out with whatever needed doing. She was amazing and I appreciate the kudos people have shared here.
I once wrote a piece on her husband’s work on campus and in the community, which was also very interesting. I will have to look up that article sometime. :-)
Great tribute to ‘Speedy’ Martin, Ryan Cornell! She seemed in her prime in the early 60’s as a phys ed and art professor, while matching up her athletic prowess on the tennis courts with a couple of us tennis aspirants when we invited her to join us. During those interludes with her, the covering, long blue cape dress and white sneakers gave way to a much broader understanding of who she was as a person. She was one vigorous and positive person to be around!