The late Father Richard Martin (right) spends time with Haitian children while visiting their country as part of his charitable project Operation Starfish. Photo courtesy of Jim McDaniel
Church of the Nativity parishioner Jill Chastain and her family donated to Operation Starfish’s developmental work in Haiti for 15 years before she finally went on a work trip with Father Richard Martin.
“He said you can get as much out of going as giving,” Chastain said, “that these people will give back to you with their joyousness. He was right, to see that they are such a happy people when they have nothing.”
Chastain, a Springfield resident, was among 300 members of the Burke and Springfield community who celebrated the life of Martin on May 3, exactly one year after he died unexpectedly of complications from diabetes.
“The entire community came together in a very supportive way to mark this milestone,” said Jim McDaniel, the Operation Starfish leader at Nativity, “to celebrate the fact that the work he started, particularly in Haiti, is ongoing and doing very well.”
FATHER MARTIN was pastor at Nativity for 17 years and became widely known for starting Operation Starfish in 1998, a charitable organization that builds houses, sanitation systems, water wells and small businesses in Haiti.
“He was the most compassionate person I think I’ve ever met,” said longtime friend and Fairfax resident Patricia Connell. “His message was always be compassionate. He was very, very interested in the poor and the disadvantaged, throughout his whole ministry. He had a soft spot in his heart for the poor.”
Since it launched, Nativity parishioners with the trademarked Operation Starfish (now operated by Food for the Poor, Inc) program have helped build 1,400 homes in 10 Nativity villages, with roughly $5 million in donated or raised funds.
Over the anniversary weekend alone, another $124,000 in donations came in to continue funding Operation Starfish’s “Good Shepherd Village” near Dalon, Haiti. McDaniel visited the site at the end of April and reported 40 of the planned 120 homes are completed, a primary school has been school built, housing 650 children, and a community drinking water system has been installed. All “well ahead of schedule,” he noted.
“He was a clerical person, a man of God, but never stood on prayer alone,” said McDaniel. “He found a way to activate his prayer with a human touch, I think that drew people to him.
“He was extremely honest with his feelings,” McDaniel continued, “he wasn’t afraid to make himself vulnerable. He was a liberal Democrat from New England, and had no problem saying that.”
The events celebrating Martin’s life included four services at the church and an afternoon graveside memorial at Fairfax Memorial Park.
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D-41) attended the 11 a.m. mass and presented a memorial resolution passed by the Virginia General Assembly honoring the late pastor. Martin, a Warwick, R. I. native, was 74 and close to his 48th anniversary as a priest.
“Father Martin was an incredible leader in our community, beloved in his parish and admired and respected throughout the world for his passion and dedication to helping those most vulnerable and in need,” Filler-Corn said in a statement. “Father Martin's legacy will live on through the countless lives he impacted in Haiti through Operation Starfish and certainly throughout our community.”
MARTIN’S BROTHER Jack and his wife Patti, their sister Madeleine and husband Michael all came down from Rhode Island for the memorials.
“It was a beautiful experience, to be honest,” said Jack, “just truly amazing the turnout of people that still have love for my brother, a year after he’s passed away.”
Jack said when Richard died, there was a discussion as to whether he should be buried in Rhode Island or Virginia.
“It was best decision I ever made in my life, by what I saw on Sunday,” Jack said, “that he should be buried with his Virginia family. We know he’s being well taken care of down there.”
McDaniel said the anniversary event was a way for community members to recommit to acting on some of the values Father Martin was known for: “kindness, looking out for those less fortunate, getting outside yourselves and taking the blessings we all have and sharing them with others.”
For Chastain, whose high school-age son was baptised by Father Martin, she will always remember his wisdom, “different things we could take to heart,” she said, “go out and actually do. One important saying he had was, ‘Our tomorrows must not only be different, but better because we were there.’”