Friends, Family Gather at New City Library to Remember Dr. Martha MacGuffie

Friends, family and members of the community gathered Sunday at the New City Library to remember the works and impact on Rockland and the world of Dr. Martha "Bobby" MacGuffie of New City.

The tribute was hosted by the New City Library and the Historical Society of Rockland County just a day after a funeral for the reconstructive plastic surgeon and humanitarian. As part of the tribute, there was a showing of In The Face of Adversity by documentary photographer and author Lynn Cluess Manzione, and a reading from the book she and MacGuffie created, A Wondrous Journey.

Stories of MacGuffie's work in Kenya and other memories  were shared by members of SHARE and the community. SHARE is a not-for-profit organization created by MacGuffie, dedicated to bringing aid and resources to children in Kenya.

“Accomplished, compassionate, humble, dedicated, selfless and unstoppable, those are just a few words spoken of Dr. MacGuffie, but her actions spoke so much louder than words,” said Manzione.

MacGuffie died on March 7 at age 87.

SHARE member Jerry Warshaw worked in the Kenyan fields with MacGuffie and shared his memories with the audience:

“Rockland has lost one of history’s all-time giants. She was a superstar beyond imagination, not just in Rockland County, but on a global basis."

“Bobby and I made so many trips to Western Kenya to an area so remote that even the Kenyans had never been there. And she chose this area, particularly, because she wanted to find the worst place on earth, the worst place for infectious disease such as Malaria and AIDS. The worst place for certain types of parasitic disease and rare cancers. The thinking was, if she could find the worst place, she would have the biggest impact."

“That’s one of the reasons Columbia University listed her as one of their top 10 graduates that did most to change the world."

Warshaw then shared a story with the crowd that packed the auditorium at the New City Library about his and MacGuffie’s last trip to Kenya:

“We leave Rockland County … and it takes us approximately 30 hours to get from JFK (airport) to the shores of Lake Victoria."

“On this trip, we wait for the ferry to come in. The cows get off and we get on. The last time I took this trip with Bobby was three years ago."

“We walk through the cows and a Kenyan approaches us and says, “Bobby, Dr. Bobby. Oh, I’m so glad to see that you’re back in Kenya so I can personally thank you for improving our high school. It turns out he was the principal of that high school and he says:

"'I want to thank you for building us the library. We always dreamt of having a library.'"

And Dr. Bobby says, “Tell me, do you allow girls in your school yet?”

And he says, “No"

And Bobby says, “When you decide to allow girls in that school, I will fill that library with the greatest books the world has ever known.”

“That’s amazing, because so many people would accept those accolades … She was so focused … she was still fighting for women rights.”

After the ferry docks, they passed sign after sign thanking MacGuffie for building things such as a maternity ward at a hospital and a medical dispensary for three villages. There was a sign that read “MacGuffie’s Tea Farm,” for land she and SHARE had bought for starving widows and taught them how to become economically self-sufficient.

“One common question I get is if I think SHARE will survive without her. SHARE’s new president was chosen by Bobby three years ago to replace her to ensure a smooth transition for the future. Bobby thought of everything and recognized that younger people needed to take over and she was confident that she got the best person for the job."

"In other words, Bobby’s work is permanent."

“Cornell University, two months ago, bestowed upon her the prestigious lifetime award and simultaneously changed the name of the award to the Dr. Marth MacGuffie Lifetime Achievement Award."

Manzione reflected on what brought her to seek out MacGuffie and write A Wondrous Journey.

“My journey with her happened here at home,” said Manzione. Five years ago, Manzione had to have her mouth wired shut for a year after a bike accident. After seeing women doing ridiculous things on TV, she decided to portray important, successful women to society and that’s how she met MacGuffie.

“She was just going to be this one person in this collection of stories of women that I was going to photograph and maybe write an essay about."

“I didn’t even know her whole story at the time … until I walked into that kitchen and sat down at her dining room table."

"One of the first things I did with her after I learned about her whole story was put together a documentary.”

This documentary took the audience through MacGuffie’s life. With too many accomplishments to name, Mazione stuck with just a few important ones that MacGuffie is known for:

• 1st woman to graduate as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Columbia University Medical School (1945).
• 1st woman surgeon on staff at Nyack Hospital.
• Establish the first burn unit at Nyack hospital
• Developed a special prototype for a special water bed that would ease the suffering of her patients, burn victims with devastating wounds
• 50,000 patients over a 50+ year career

The tribute to MacGuffie was organized quickly after a wake for her on Friday and her funeral on Saturday in Nyack. The event at the library was originally slated to focus on accomplishments of Rockland women as part of Women's History Month.