Obituary of Martha Marie Shalvatis

Martha M. Shalvatis, 96, of Franklin, MA, passed away on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Martha was born in Middletown, New Jersey and she resided in Jersey City and Atlantic Highlands as a child.  She raised her family in Marlboro and resided there for 55 years before moving to Jackson, NJ for 13 years.  She spent her final 2 years living with her loving daughter, Ginny Greenhalgh, in Massachusetts.

 She enjoyed reading, puzzles, pets and, apparently, children, having had nine of them!  She stayed home to care for them for which they are eternally grateful.  While she often called them by the wrong name and sometimes cycled through a long list before hitting on the right one, she knew each of them until the end of her life.

 She used to say "you have to laugh' and she did like to laugh.  With 9 children there was plenty of fodder. From feet stuck in cinder blocks to someone stuck backwards in the rocking chair, she rescued each of us with patience and laughter.  She was always up for a funny movie or TV show and had the most contagious laugh.  Sometimes we were laughing just because Mom was laughing so hard.  It's hard to imagine the world without that laugh.

She had an active mind and was very well read.  She enjoyed everything puzzles from crosswords to jigsaw and was really hard to beat in Scrabble.  At the age of 96, she was still answering Jeopardy questions and solving Wheel of Fortune phrases.

 Always a sweet and caring woman, she only became sweeter as she aged.  Live and let live was her motto.  Her other saying was 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.'  The wider world could learn from her as we did.

She was predeceased by her husband Peter and two brothers, Raymond and John Dowd.  She is survived by her 9 children: Lorraine Swislosky, Matthew Shalvatis, Mary Greene, Virginia Greenhalgh, Daniel Shalvatis, Gregory Shalvatis, Nancy Tipnis, Janet Bender and Louise DiSanto; 16 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Family and friends are invited to visit on Wednesday, May 8^th from 9:30AM-10:30 AM at the Freeman Funeral Home, 47 East Main Street, Freehold. A Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 8^th at 11:00 AM at St. Gabriel’s Historic Church, Route 520, Marlboro. Entombment will follow at St. Gabriel’s Mausoleum, Marlboro. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in her name.  To leave a condolence or find directions, visit www.freemanfuneralhomes.com.