Beloved TDN features editor Suzanne Martinson dies near her family's ancestral Michigan farm

In her time, "This Day" editor was one of best known people in the community; she later became a nationally esteemed food writer

Suzanne Martinson’s warmth radiates in this December photo shared by her family.

If anyone could be a mother hen to a whole community, Suzanne Martinson was it.

The former “This Day” features editor of The Daily News was among the best-known and admired people in the Lower Columbia area during her tenure there from the late 1970s through 1985.

Her reputation wasn’t based solely on what she wrote or edited — innumerable stories about club news, weddings, recipes and feature topics as diverse as baking, autism and teenage sex. Suzanne just had a knack for understanding and connecting with people and readers.

Suzanne passed away in her sleep Wednesday morning in a care facility near her family’s ancestral Michigan farm, which has been in her clan for more than a century. She was 83. (See a full obit at the bottom of this story.)

It’s a sad time for those of us who worked with her at TDN and those of us who kept up friendships when she and her family moved to Tennessee and Pittsburgh before retiring here in Lexington.

Her passing also speaks to the passing of an era. Remaining small-town newspapers have been cut back so severely and have such rapid staff turnover that they lack deep connections to their audiences — connections like those Suzanne established.

“The thing I remember most about Suzanne is how much fun she was,” recalled former TDN reporter Linda Wilson. “She was always up for anything. And she loved to bake.

“She was also a celebrity in town — everyone knew who she was because of her personal columns in the newspaper about (her husband Robert “Ace’ Martinson) and daughter Jessica.

“Suzanne was really the social glue of the paper in those days: There were lots of parties at their farm in Rainier — Halloween, cider stomps, a Cajun fish fry. She always included everybody,” Wilson said.

For Suzanne, work at The Daily News was a family affair. Bob, who died in 2015, was the paper’s assistant city editor. They were one of three married couples working in the newsroom in those days, and they were among the reasons the workplace felt like a family.

Suzanne had an easy and a natural way of establishing rapport and a knack for putting people at ease, even it if involved sensitive and private issues. People who gave her interviews were not strangers for long, and many became friends.

Suzanne was a fluid and natural writer. She was fond of quoting the late New York Times columnist Red Smith, who said writing daily stories was easy: “You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.”

“I always envied how easy it was for her to write, at least in the early years. She just sat down and it poured out,” Wilson said.

Wilson said Suzanne “was a fabulous line-by-line editor who really cared about words and the readers. Being a farm girl, she also cared about cows. I remember her asking me what kind of cows were mentioned in one of my stories. I had no idea.”

Retired Longview attorney David Rorden, who worked under Suzanne as a feature writer for part of his reporting and editing tenure at TDN, said she was a “positive and affirming editor who encouraged people and did not tear them down.”

When she took the features job at TDN, Suzanne had big shoes to fill. She replaced Agnes Staggs, who had been the paper’s features editor for decades. It was originally referred to as the women’s page and served a heavy diet of social news.

Suzanne continued to publish traditional news about quilting, fashion and social occasions, but she made the features section weightier with stories about social, cultural, medical, and scientific issues.

Suzanne could be territorial and defensive about her department. But when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18 ,1980, she dedicated her entire staff to helping cover the overwhelming story — a story that led to the newspaper winning a 1981 Pulitzer Prize. She was always struck by how calm and focused newsroom employees remained despite the chaos and threats that swirled around them in those days.

“They had a job to do and they just came in and did it,” she would recall to me even many years afterward.

Suzanne wrote about innumerable topics, but she had a special taste for food and cooking stories, winning national recognition for that work (more on that in the obit, below.)

I credit her for my addiction to chocolate.

Suzanne used to say: "If there is something small and dark and round in my cookie, it'd better be a chocolate chip!" said Kathleen Connelly, a former TDN features writer who now lives in Auburn, New York area.

Suzanne, she said, “was a storyteller, writing her columns, sharing her life. She could sit down and crank out a 20-inch story on deadline and it would have heart, a plot line and all the names would be spelled correctly. I learned so much from her.”

Connelly and her husband, David, remained close friends with the Martinson family after both couples moved east. David Connelly had been TDN’s city editor in the early 1980s.

When Suzanne and her husband retired to Longview, she continued to write about cooking for The Columbia River Reader, a once-a-month newspaper. Her column, “Cooking with the Farmer’s Daughter,” ran eight years and often invoked her memories of growing up on her family’s midwestern farm, said Sue Piper, the Reader’s publisher.

Suzanne’s heart, after all, never really left the farm. She was a mother hen by birth.

This formal obituary about Suzanne was written by her family

Suzanne Lynn Garner Martinson, age 83, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 4, 2026, at Heritage Hill Assisted Living in Caro, Michigan. She was born on November 25, 1942, to Waldo and Annadell (Schell) Garner.

She attended Baker Country School through eighth grade under the very capable tutelage of Mrs. Schultz, whom Suzanne credits with her love of books and learning.

Growing up, Suzanne was an active member of Girl Scouts of America and 4-H. She remarked that the best week of her years was fair week at the Tuscola County Fair exhibiting horses and cattle along with other projects.

She was a 1961 graduate of Vassar High School, where she was the co-valedictorian. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from the Journalism Honors College at Michigan State University. While attending she continued to carry on her love of horses as a member of the Block and Bridle Club. “Go Big Green” was her battle cry.

After graduation, Suzanne began her journalism career in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. In 1966 she married Reg Ashmun, her high school sweetheart. Reg was in the Navy so Suzanne’s next career move was teaching Home Economics in Pensacola, Florida. They were transferred to Coos Bay, Oregon, and after Reg finished his time in the service, the two moved inland to Sandy, Oregon, where she began her role at the Gresham Outlook.

After they separated, Reg and Suzanne remained lifelong friends, then Suzanne made a bold move to Rainier, Oregon, to continue her journalism career. That decision marked the beginning of a remarkable professional journey—one that would carry her across the country and into the hearts (and kitchens) of countless readers.

While at the Gresham Outlook, she met Robert “Bob” Martinson. They married, settled in Rainier, and built a life grounded in partnership, laughter, and shared adventure. Suzanne later joined the Longview Daily News. Not long after, on May 18, 1980, she helped cover the eruption of Mount St. Helens—work that contributed to the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize–winning effort. It was only the beginning of the excellence she would bring to her craft.

In 1985, Suzanne and Bob moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where she worked at the News Sentinel. Three years later, they headed to Pittsburgh, PA, where Suzanne became Features Editor at the Pittsburgh Press. When the paper consolidated in 1996, she continued at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as food editor, carving out a legacy that would earn her two James Beard Awards and the Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism.

Suzanne didn’t just write about food — she celebrated it. She championed Pittsburgh’s beloved cookie tables, judged ice cream competitions, and explored the sweetness of Hershey. In 2008, she co-authored The Fallingwater Cookbook: Elsie Henderson’s Recipes and Memories, sharing the story and recipes of the Kaufmann family’s personal chef at Fallingwater, the famed home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

She never resisted trying something new. Once, she prepared an entire six-course meal devoted solely to artichokes for her husband and daughter — because why not? Another time, she took her family to a baseball game at PNC Park so they could eat their way through every vendor during a Pirates game. And when Pittsburgh opened a new airport terminal, Suzanne made it her personal mission to try every restaurant, offering readers her honest review.

But Suzanne wasn’t all about work. She was a proud wife and mother and a devoted friend. She could be found in the stands at every high school football game, cheering on her daughter in the marching band, and she was the undisputed queen of strawberry trifles at every band potluck.

She made time to travel to see the people she loved as well. It wasn’t unheard of for her and Bob to head to Michigan to help move hay into the loft—or to cheer on her beloved Michigan State University Spartans. Her travels also took her to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Paris. But no matter where she roamed, her roots ran deep.

You can take the girl from the farm, but you can’t take the farming out of the girl. She never stopped asking, “How are the crops?” She once surprised Bob and Jessica by carrying in a six-foot framed picture of corn as if it were a trophy. The soil stayed in her soul.

Suzanne and Bob eventually retired to the Lexington area of Cowlitz County, where she poured herself into volunteering with LINK, loving her grandchildren, and savoring the simple joys of daily life. She was a lover of crafts and eclectic art, famous for her unique collection of earrings, and a devoted reader of mystery novels.

Suzanne lived a life fueled by curiosity, courage, good food, and deep love.

Suzanne was the proud mother of Jessica and Jennifer, and a joyful grandmother whose love showed up in stories, recipes, travel plans, and second helpings. She taught those around her that excellence and delight can share the same table—that work can be meaningful and fun—and that dessert should never be postponed. Her favorite motto might sum it up best: “Eat dessert first, life is uncertain.”

Suzanne lived fully, loved fiercely, and left behind a table where there will always be room—and always something delicious to share.

She is survived by her daughter Jessica (Elijah) Burton of Lansing; grandchildren Micah and Alexis Burton; siblings Roxann (Dutch) Guthrie and Jon (Martha) Garner of Vassar; nieces and nephews Kristi (Tim) Barber, Jackie Garner (Chad Brown), Dan (Shauna) Garner, Kelsey (Justin) Rudy; and many more beloved family members and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 38 years, Robert “Bob” Martinson (2015); her daughter Jennifer Ann Martinson (1979, age 3 weeks); and her parents, Annadell (2013) and Waldo (1995) Garner.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to Heritage Hill Assisted Living and Memory Care for the love and support shown over the past four years. We are eternally grateful for the way you became Suzanne’s family.

A memorial service took place at First United Methodist Church, Vassar on Saturday, March 7.

Burial services will take place in Rainier, Oregon , on a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Palomino Horse Breeders Association Youth Scholarship Fund (https://www.palominohba.com/the-association/youth-scholarships/) or Longview Youth and Family Link (https://www.linkprogram.org/).