GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STAFF GRIEVES PASSING OF MARTHA OBERHELMAN

Martha Oberhelman, Grandfather Mountain's "bear lady" known for charming birds from the trees and coaxing chipmunks to eat from her hand, died June 22nd after a long illness.

Martha, age 79, was only two when her parents, Louise and Erasmus Cashwell, moved to Linville Falls. She met and married Marion Oberhelman in 1948 and the couple began a life filled with travel and adventure in the US Air Force.

Over the years the Oberhelmans were stationed in Atlanta, Oklahoma City, England, Massachusetts, California, Williamsburg and DC. But easily the most exotic posting was during the mid-1950s in Damascus, Syria, where Obie was assigned to the CIA.

Martha said her husband considered her his best source of information during his time as a secret agent. She put her gregarious nature to use chatting with the wives and shopkeepers when she was out in the markets. The seemingly innocent gossip that Martha brought home from the bazaars turned out to be some of the most revealing information that Obie had to report to his superiors. So much so, said Martha, that she and her family were expelled from the country.

Martha told a story about how one day she and her boys came home from the market to find two Syrian soldiers armed with machine guns standing at her door. The soldiers told her that Obie had been accused of being a spy and that the Syrian government was giving them just 48 hours to leave the country. She said she packed so fast she couldn’t even take the goldfish she kept in the bidet in the bathroom.

The Oberhelmans retired to Linville Falls and Martha came to work at Grandfather Mountain in June of 1980. Martha had never visited the travel attraction prior to her first day on the job. She showed up in a three-piece peach pants suit and was mortified to discover all the other employees in jeans and red-checked shirts. She escaped her self-consciousness by taking a post at the Bear Hut where she spent 27 years selling peanuts and making friends with every visitor who stopped to listen to stories about her furry friends.

Over the years, the bear lady collected a menagerie of wild friends including a nuthatch, a squirrel and a chipmunk. Martha named all of her critters Dum Dum (after the lollipop) so that she could count on at least one of them showing up whenever she called.

Meeting Martha and watching the animals eat out of her hands was a magical experience for literally thousands of Grandfather Mountain visitors. One Japanese family that met Martha on a visit to Grandfather returned the following summer just to see "the bear lady." Their daughter spent months crafting a gift of 1,000 origami cranes to present to Martha as a symbol of respect and reverence.

So many of the travel attraction's guests took time to write letters of praise and appreciation for how welcome and important Martha made them feel that in 1992 Grandfather Mountain established the "Martha Award," given each year to the employee who consistently exceeds the highest standard of service to the Mountain's guests. Similarly, the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce honored Martha with its Customer Service Champion Award in March of 2003.

"Martha loved animals and Martha loved people; with that combination, we could not have had a better person to work at the Bear Hut," said Grandfather Mountain Vice President Harris Prevost. "Martha had a great way with people. She was a witty, upbeat and very entertaining person to be around. She will be greatly missed."

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