Funeral services were held on Wednesday at Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church for an RR1 Alma nurse who was among the victims of the earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12.
Yvonne Martin, 67, was part of a Haitian relief operation launched by the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada through its arm Global Initiatives.
Lou Geense, of Global Initiatives, said he met Martin for an hour the week before she left for Haiti.
“She had been there and was looking forward to another tour,” said Geense. “She landed two hours before the earthquake hit.”
Martin and seven other nurses arrived in Port-au-Prince with a plan to operate mobile medical units in northeastern Haiti. Martin was alone in their city guest house when it collapsed in the quake.
Geense said Global Initiatives has been providing medical aid in the country for several years and Martin was always eager to help.
She was a nurse for several decades at the Elmira Medical Centre, and took up volunteer work after she retired. When the health clinic in Elmira was swamped at the end of last year with H1N1 flu shot demand, she volunteered to help with the inoculations.
Phil Delsaut, president of the church, said in a formal statement, “We are deeply saddened by this loss and wish to express our sincere sympathy to her family. We also extend our sympathy to the families of other foreign relief workers injured or missing and to the people of Haiti affected by this disaster.”
The death toll from the earthquake could reach as high as 200,000. As of Tuesday, according to CBC News, 12 Canadians are confirmed dead and 849 are still missing.
Elmira resident Hugh Weltz knew Martin from his visits to the medical clinic and said Martin seemed to know every visitor by their first name.
“She was a wonderful person. She never looked for the limelight,” Weltz said. “She was one of those gems of people.”
Weltz added he was unaware that Martin had done relief work in Haiti several times, but wasn’t surprised.
“She didn’t make a big deal of it,” he said. “She’s a real loss to society.”
Kitchener-Conestoga MP Harold Albrecht said on his website, “My thoughts and prayers are with the Martin family and with all of those who have suffered as a result of this tragedy. Yvonne was in Haiti to help set up mobile clinics. This need still exists. Our government has announced $5-million in immediate humanitarian assistance while the situation is assessed, more will be needed.”
Geense said the surviving nurses that went to Haiti with Martin returned home on Friday. He said the group is not a first response operation, and it will return when the current situation has stabilized.
Martin is survived by her husband, Ron, of Alma; children Luke and his wife Sheri, of California; Dean and his wife, Christine, of Kitchener; and Terry and his wife Melanie, of Elmira; and several grandchildren and siblings.
Interment will take place in Elmira Union Cemetery.
Donations can be made to the Red Cross or the Mennonite Central Committee for the current earthquake relief effort.
The family requested that contributions be sent to Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, 130 Fergus Avenue, Kitchener, N2A 2H2 or donate online at www.emcc.ca. Mark donations: Martin Memorial Haiti. Funds will be used in Haiti in memory of Martin under the Friends of Haiti Project.
