Business-owner Martha (Marty) Gamble Flint died Feb. 11 due tocomplications from pneumonia. She was 85.
Flint was born March 1, 1939, in Moline and spent her youth in Whittier, California, where she graduated from Whittier High School. She attended Occidental College and then the Sorbonne in Paris.
When Flint returned to California, she enrolled in a computer programmers’ IBM training course, where she met her future husband, Orin Q. Flint III. They were assigned to sit next to each other and were both enamored with each other’s top grades, so they started to date and got married in 1962. They had two daughters, Megan in 1966 and Tacy in 1977. The couple moved to Rochester, New York, where Flint got her B.A. at Rochester Institute of Technology and M.B.A at the University of Rochester.
While Flint and her family lived in Rochester, she got inspired by Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking, resulting in her lifelong passion for cooking French meals—especially hollandaise sauce—that wowed friends and others for many decades.
In 1974, Flint decided to open her first business, The Victorian Inn in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, which was successful due to its beautiful accommodation and outstanding cuisine. She ran it for 10 years before deciding to sell.
Flint decided to focus on food with her second business, a restaurant called Tommie Gunn’s in Worcester, Massachusetts, that she opened in 1987. The restaurant featured Flint’s signature gourmet food and nightly cabaret acts with everyone who worked in public facing roles (including Flint) as participants at the mic.
After 34 years of marriage, Flint and her husband amicably divorced and remained friends for the rest of their lives.
Flint realized later in life that she was attracted to women more than men. Her life changed forever when she met her soon-to-be second spouse Marty Morrison. Their friends called them The Two Martys. The couple first had a commitment ceremony in 2003, then in 2004, when marriage equality came to Massachusetts, The Two Martys took part in a ceremony with six other women couples, aka “the fourteen brides.”
The Two Martys moved to Chicago in 2011 to help raise their grandchildren so their children could continue to work. They found a close-knit circle of friends (many of whom were members of their “lesbian posse”) who loved to spend time at their house and partake in Flint’s many gourmet meals.
Flint was known for her atheism, and being both an outspoken fighter for equal rights and lifelong cannabis enthusiast who loved to drop the F-bomb curse word. She made friends wherever she went, and was devoted to them and her family members.
Flint was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Jane Gamble and daughter-in-law, Georgia Supernor. She is survived by her wife Marty Morrison, brother Wicker (Megan) Gamble, daughters Megan Flint and Tacy (Graham Meyer) Flint, grandchildren— Aric, Zinnia, Augie and Hazel—and countless chosen family members and friends.
Widow Marty Morrison said, “My wife was a force of nature who was an extremely strong and opinionated woman. She always loved the quote by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich from 1976, ‘Well-behaved women rarely make history,’ and she embodied that ethos every day of her life.
“When she turned 80, we had a birthday party for her in Paris that was arranged by her daughter Tacy and two of her exchange students (one from Belgium and one from Finland) came to the party because of the impact that she had on them. She changed their lives for the better. I will miss her humor, hospitality and the discussions we had on a myriad of topics. She helped me expand my view of the world and I will be forever grateful.”
Longtime friend Jean Durkin said, “Marty Flint was a firecracker! I met her about 15 years ago when [she] and her wife Marty Morrison moved to Chicago to take care of their grandchildren. They ended up taking care of us all. Especially me. The Martys always had an impact in a crowd. The tender way that they cared for one another rippled through our community. She was loved and she will be missed.”
Longtime friend Laura Lothschutz said, “Marty Flint was a firecracker. She loved the color orange, and it suited her. I met Marty in 2017 when my partner and I joined the Unitarian Church of Evanston. Marty was the center of every social gathering she was in, including the group of UCE women who dubbed ourselves the ‘Lesbian Posse.’ Marty loved to meet new people and had a gift of bringing people together. When Marty loved you, it was like the sun shining warmly on you. Marty held strong opinions and was not afraid to speak her mind, sharing her thoughts with incisive humor. Marty’s fierce spirit and the strong, tight communities she built will live on in the hearts of the people who love her.”
Longtime friend Susan Martin said, “I met Marty at the Unitarian Church of Evanston. I had seen her name on email messages from the UCE Rainbow Alliance and always thought she was a guy. Wasn’t I surprised when we met in person for the first time! We hit it off immediately and laughed about that for years.
“We started crafting together on a weekly basis after I asked Marty to teach me how to knit. I was very fortunate to spend the next 10-plus years knitting, crafting and sharing meals together at The Martys home with Jean Durkin. It was that family time together I never had with my own parents.
“Marty collected friendly lesbians at the Unitarian church. We were referred to as the ‘lesbian posse’ and Marty Flint was our matriarch. She was a one-of-a-kind gal, and my life has been more colorful because of her.”
A memorial service will take place Friday, March 7, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave. in Evanston.