Martine Zucker (née Latil)

Martine Zucker (née Latil) passed away peacefully on April 14, 2025, at age 89, after a period in hospice care, at her home in Orleans, Massachusetts.
Born in Paris, France, to Jean Paul and Jacqueline Latil, Martine grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, in the neighborhood of Kew Gardens. Her parents, together with Jacqueline’s sister, Lise, moved the family to the United States to escape the invasion of France by Nazi Germany in 1940, reaching the US in 1941. After going to public school in New York City, Martine attended Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1956, then went on to earn a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard in 1966. In graduate school she met and married Robert Alpert Zucker. The two of them lived in Worcester and Somerville, Massachusetts, then New Brunswick, New Jersey, before moving to East Lansing, Michigan, where Martine worked at Michigan State University as a research associate in psychiatry. In 1982, following her divorce, she moved to Orleans, where she took a job growing produce and managing the greenhouse for Fancy’s Farm. Gardening was a lifelong passion of Martine’s, along with reading and quilting. She filled her home with art she loved, and besides the garden, she enjoyed the marshes of Cape Cod more than anyplace else. In her travels to Mexico and Guatemala, where she spent considerable time, Martine took pleasure in getting to know the people there and learning about the regional handicrafts and cuisines. She always said that having and raising three children was her greatest joy in life. Family, friends, and neighbors were the cornerstones of her existence. She delighted in sitting around the kitchen table with them, laughing and sharing stories. People meeting her for the first time were struck by her interest in what they did and how they lived their lives. Her ability to see and accept people for who they are will be missed by many.
Predeceased by her sister, Catherine, and her son-in-law, Pablo, Martine is survived by her brother, Bert (spouse Karen); her children, Lisa, Alex (spouse Clare), and Ellie; her grandchildren, Niko and Emi; her nieces, Anne (partner Nush), Alice (spouse David), and Francine; her cousins Richard (spouse Pauline) and Becky (spouse John); and other dear family and friends.
In lieu of sending flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Association to Preserve Cape Cod and Doctors Without Borders.