Longtime Truro resident Martha Bicking Nagy died surrounded by her family on Oct. 25, 2024 at Seashore Point in Provincetown, where she was cared for during the last few years of her life. The cause was complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 88.
The daughter of Blanche Malcolm Bicking and Charles Albert Bicking, Martha was born on Feb. 29, 1936 in Wilmington, Del. The family moved to Rockville, Md.; during her sophomore year at Montgomery Blair High School, she was an exchange student with the American Field Service in Berlin, Germany. Her time there was formative, and she forged a friendship with her host family that remained strong for the rest of her life.
She graduated from high school in 1953 and studied history at Oberlin College in Ohio, earning her degree in 1957. There she met Paul Nagy, her future husband. The couple settled in Cambridge before moving to Lexington.
Martha worked as what used to be called a secretary. Each summer, before their two sons were born, she, Paul, and a group of friends vacationed in Provincetown, often sleeping in the dunes. After the boys were born, the family rented on Howland Street. During those years, Martha became increasingly attached to the Outer Cape, especially after she discovered the Sladeville Cottage Colony with its views of the Pamet River.
She and Paul divorced in 1972, and Martha and her sons moved to the Center Street Commune, a three-story house in Watertown bought by the same group of friends with whom she had vacationed in Provincetown. She and the boys lived there for two years before moving to Truro to enjoy the Pamet, Ballston Beach, and Corn Hill.
In 1982, Martha was able to build her own small house a short walk from the river where she lived for the next 40 years.
Martha worked a wide variety of jobs on the Cape. She cleaned houses and fished for scallops, partnered in art sales in Provincetown with Ellen Winans, and finally ran a property management business with Diane LaFrance. After 15 years as a property manager, she had to step back from working when early dementia made it too hard.
Martha had strong political views that she actively expressed. In the 1960s, she was on the front lines protesting the Vietnam War, and in 1968 she was arrested at a demonstration, said her son Eric, “which made her husband and me — I was five at the time — pleased and proud.” She was also active in the women’s movement.
On the Cape, Martha was a tireless social justice and environmental activist and was often seen in front of Provincetown Town Hall advocating for global human rights, women’s rights, and gender and sexuality equality and justice.
She was also a leader in Truro town affairs, serving as chair of the town’s planning commission during the time when the library was rebuilt and town hall refurbished. She volunteered at the food pantry and the council on aging in the years before she needed the latter group’s services.
Martha, a devoted flutist, played in the Lower Cape Concert Band for decades. A friend to birds and squirrels, she was often up before sunrise watching the comings and goings of creatures in the woods around her home. To her, life in the Truro woods, on the beach, and in the river was as fulfilling and meaningful as could be.
She was a committed member of Alcoholics Anonymous, where she found inspiration, self-discovery, and most important, community. She loved food, especially dessert — cookies, if possible.
Martha is survived by son Tim Nagy and daughter-in-law Aimee Gwynne Franklyn of Santa Fe, N.M.; son Eric Sándor Nagy and daughter-in-law Laura Galloway of Charlottesville, Va.; grandchildren Hazel Pamet Nagy Galloway of Port Angeles, Wash. and Jesse Sándor Nagy Galloway of Cambridge; sister Marjorie Bicking of North Andover; brother Charles Malcom Bicking and sister-in-law Marian Craig Bicking of Andover; and sister-in-law Elizabeth Luckhurst Bicking of New Holland, Pa.
She was predeceased by her brother William Laurence Bicking II and her former spouse and friend, Paul James Nagy.
Martha will be buried in the family plot at her home in Truro. An informal service will be held in spring 2025. For details, contact Tim Nagy ([email protected]) or Eric Nagy ([email protected]).
In lieu of flowers, donations in Martha’s honor can be made to the Human Rights Campaign, the Truro Public Library, or the Truro Council on Aging.
