Necrology
Martin Otto Nitka '64
Aug. 7, 1942-Mar. 30, 2023
Martin Otto Nitka '64 died on March 30, 2023, while hospitalized in New Hampshire. Born on Aug. 7, 1942, in Dessau, Germany, he was the youngest of three children. When World War II ended and the Allies divided Germany up, Dessau became part of the German Democratic Republic (communist East Germany), prompting the family to flee to Berlin. Heinz Nitka, Martin’s father and a physicist by training, did not want to be sent to Russia and hoped to get to a place of comparative safety. Berlin was their first stop.
However, Berlin was not to be their home for long. Heinz sought work in England, and in 1948, when Martin was 6, the family settled in Manchester. He attended a local school, learned English quickly, and shed his German accent. Six years later, the family migrated to Binghamton, N.Y., and Martin worked hard to replace his newly acquired British accent with an American one. He was also a serious chess player, becoming the Broome County chess champion on one occasion. Playing in a tournament match, he lost to a contemporary: the future chess master Bobby Fischer. At age 18, Martin became a U.S. citizen and matriculated at Hamilton, coming to the College from Binghamton Central High School.
On the Hill, Martin majored in history and was a member of Chi Psi fraternity. He joined the swim team during his first year and as both a freshman and as a sophomore played cymbals in the band. In addition to his academic work, he traveled one summer to Germany to study at the University of Heidelberg, which counted among its alumni a number of his family members. He was elected to Nous Onze as a senior.
After working one summer in California, he purchased a Ford Model A with his roommate Dan Lamont ’64, P'91,’95,’97,’00 and they drove it back to campus. Given the vehicle’s vintage and the distance they were traveling, it is not surprising that they made the acquaintance of a number of auto mechanics along the way.
From Hamilton, Martin attended the Albany Law School of Union University, both obtaining his law degree and passing the New York State Bar in 1967. Among his first jobs as a lawyer was drafting legislation for the New York State Assembly. While he was in Albany he met Alice Waterson, a local resident and an alumna of Russell Sage College who had a strong interest in politics. Like Martin, Alice was a skier and, while both were working at Mount Snow ski resort in Dover, Vt., in March 1968, they married and decided to make Vermont their permanent home. They would have two daughters. In 1969, they left Albany for Ludlow, Vt., where Martin worked as a lawyer for attorney Walter Schinoski, and, following Shinoski’s death in the fall of 1971, continued as a sole practitioner. In 1988, Martin and Frederick Glover established a law partnership: Nitka & Glover. Martin retired in 2014, but continued to stop by the office on a daily basis to read cases and newspapers.
Martin was an active participant in Ludlow civic life. He served as town attorney and was a member of the town’s select board and the cemetery commissioner, among other positions. He was reelected as town meeting moderator for many years, where his sharp wit could cut the tension in a debate. He was a member of both the Vermont Bar Association and Rotary International, and was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary in 2000. He served on many boards over the years, including those of the Plymouth Cheese Factory (founded by the father of Calvin Coolidge), the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts, and the Friends of Ludlow Auditorium. He was also a president of Okemo Mountain Ski Area.
Martin was a man of many interests. He enjoyed fly fishing for trout both in Vermont and New York, and bird hunting with his dog. He hiked portions of the Long Trail that runs along the spine of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts border to that with Quebec, as well as other trails in the Green and White mountains. He enjoyed downhill skiing in his younger days, and cross-country skiing in the Green Mountain National Forest as he got older. He participated in the Stowe Derby, a cross-country ski race from the top of Vermont’s highest peak, Mt. Mansfield, to the town of Stowe, a distance of a little over nine miles. While modern Nordic skis are normally the equipment of choice, in 2008 Martin competed on an old pair of three-pin skis, admitting he came in last in his age group and maybe last overall.
He was an avid golfer and longtime member of Okemo Valley/Fox Run Golf Course, where he also worked on the “Mow and Go Crew,” walking for miles behind a lawnmower in the early morning. When on the links, he could keep track of everyone’s score in a golf foursome and remember everyone’s shots even years later.
He enjoyed The New York Times crossword puzzles, chess, and anything to do with numbers. He listened to Vermont Public Radio since its inception, watched Bloomberg News, and loved to cook and eat, especially salty foods. He looked forward to planting his garden each spring and was never happy with the results. Two of his favorite pastimes were “contributing to his carbon footprint” by going for car rides around Vermont and
critiquing his wife’s politics, she having been a member of the Vermont Senate for many years.
Martin Nitka is survived by his wife, two daughters, and two grandsons.
— Prepared in collaboration with Martin’s wife, Alice W. Nitka
