Martha Lachman
June 2, 1935-May 28, 2021
Atherton, California
Martha Josephine “Marjo” Hesse Lachman, a 58-year resident of Atherton, died peacefully on May 28th, 2021, four days short of her 86th birthday.
Marjo had a profound love for her family and friends. She was well traveled, a fine cook, a delightful hostess, and a voracious reader with broad interests. Her ebullient personality, natural curiosity, and interest in others made her a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend.
Marjo was born on the historic 28 Ranch in Buffalo, Wyoming, amid a vast landscape filled with cattle, ranchers and much-loved adventures. Against this rugged backdrop, she cultivated a love of dance and the arts. She sang in church choirs and acted in numerous school, community and regional plays. She eventually trained in ballet at a satellite campus of the prestigious Ballet Russe. After moving with her family from Wyoming to Montana, South Dakota, Arizona and New Mexico, Marjo followed her dream of dancing and acting to the renown Pasadena Playhouse, where she met the love of her life, Stanley Lachman, then an actor.
After their marriage in 1956, Stanley joined the firm his father created before the 1906 earthquake, Lachman Bros. They moved to Atherton, where Marjo reared their two sons and began a lifetime of community involvement. She was active in the Menlo Circus Club and Menlo School. She volunteered at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Peninsula Volunteers, and the Stanford Museum, among many other organizations. She was an enthusiastic supporter of the San Francisco Ballet, Symphony and Opera, as well as Music at Menlo. Marjo loved learning languages and participating in many Spanish and French conversational groups. The friendships she made brought her great and lasting pleasure.
Marjo is survived by her brother, Michael George Samuel Hesse (Florida); sons, Craig Lachman (Denver) and Mark Lachman (San Francisco); nieces, nephews and three beloved granddaughters: Grace, Lillian and Emma. As Marjo passed-away during the pandemic, a private internment was held in June 2021. A public service will be held at 4:00 PM on Saturday, June 4th at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Menlo Park, California with a reception to follow.
