Gail Burggraaf Martin

June 2, 1937 – June 20, 2026

Gail Burggraaf Martin, a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on June 20, 2026, at Peppi’s House Hospice in Tucson, Arizona. She was 89 years old.

Gail was born on June 2, 1937, in Massachusetts. Based on the history assembled by her brother Pieter, she was the descendant of Dutch (the Wassenaars) and English (Symonds) immigrants, with ancestry in America that “goes back to 140 years before the Revolution.”

Gail traveled west from New England with her family, landing in Arizona in 1949 and California in 1953. She attended the Verde Valley School in Sedona, and UCLA where she met Richard Martin. Gail and Richard married and settled in Tucson in 1962. Tucson was her home for over six decades. Gail loved the landscape, wildlife, culture and climate of the Sonoran Desert.

Gail lived with great energy and curiosity. She was an avid tennis player, a passionate gardener, an accomplished ceramicist, a voracious reader, and a lace-up-your-boots hiker who loved exploring the natural world. Many of us have cups, plates, bowls, and sculptures as part of our daily lives that were made by Gail in her home pottery studio where she and her adult students worked and learned together. Travel fed her spirit and widened her world, and she approached each adventure with vim, vigor and verve. Those who loved her knew that Gail had strong opinions and wasn't shy about sharing them.

Gail was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Richard J. Martin, a Tucson pediatrician, whom she married in 1956 and who passed away in 2002.

She is survived by her sister Cornelia and brother Pieter; her four children, Stephanie Martin, Andrew Martin and his wife Cindy Buchenroth Martin, Tina Martin, and William Martin; six grandchildren, Corinna West, Chester Hall, Dylan Martin, Owen Martin, Bodhi Martin, and Mateo Martin; and great-grandchild Finn Dill Macky.

Gail will be remembered for the life she poured into everything she loved.