April 18, 1955 – October 11, 2024

Karen Ingrid “Penny” Bennett Martin passed away at age 69 on October 11, 2024. She was born in Iraan, Texas on April 18, 1955. Her parents were Eugene “Gene” Bennett and Margareta “Peg” Barber. She was raised by her Great grandparents who named her “Penny” from her copper-colored hair, and then by her paternal grandparents, Gene “Chile” Bennett and Mary Belle “Mama” Bennett. They moved a lot, following her grandfather’s business interests, and lived in Odessa, Texas, Palm Springs, California, and Kailua, Hawaii. She graduated from Permian High School in Odessa Texas. She never understood why she liked fish in beef-loving Texas until she met her maternal Swedish roots. She was a dedicated actress and played the lead in Anne of a Thousand Days in her freshman year at college. After a year in Odessa Community College, she was accepted at Webber-Douglas Academy in London, where she studied drama for a year. She returned to the US where she pursued a career in drama, spending her time between Los Angeles and Houston for twelve years. She briefly performed with the Groundlings in Los Angeles, and her work included many commercials. She was one of the leads in the first cable TV series, Lone Star Bar and Grill.
Between acting work, she took a job as a tour leader of a medical trip to China in 1985, where she met her future husband, Brooks Martin, where she found out they share the same birthday three years apart. They were married in South Lake Tahoe, California in 1987 and have been married for 37 years. They have lived on the same lot of land for almost 40 years, although the house was rebuilt after burning down in the Angora fire of 2007. Almost all of their free time included travel, and especially to their beloved Maui.
She and Brooks travelled the globe for many years on small, 100 passenger eco-cruise ships where he worked as the ship physician. They went to such areas as the Antarctic and Arctic Circle, the Amazon, the Mekong as well as smaller but more traditional ports around the world for a total of 76 cruises. Her favorite places on the planet were South Georgia Island near Antarctica and East Africa. They also travelled extensively on their own. She made it to six of the seven continents, missing only Australia, and travelled to 94 different countries.
She loved scuba diving, tandem-biking, hiking the Sierras, and being with friends. But her abiding interests were being with her dear husband Brooks and all things spiritual. They started Unity at the Lake, a Spiritual Center, in their own living room in 1994 and she was a Prayer Chaplain for 20 years. Unity is still thriving 30 years later. She has explored many routes searching for the divine, always knowing that it was within her all the time.
She lived a life of giving, volunteering at Bread and Broth and the Homeless Shelter, co-founding the Season for Peace and Non-violence in South Lake Tahoe and was active in the Tahoe Arts Project.
She was predeceased by her father and grandparents, her beloved Aunt Jane and Uncle Chick, and her half-sister Linda, as well as their beloved dog Tisha. She is survived by her husband, Brooks Martin, her mother, Peg Barber, her half-sister Liz, her half-brother Alan Rader and his wife Kim, her adopted half-brother Brandon Bennett and her niece Amber Rader and her son Jonah, her nephew Alan Rader, and godsons Gabriel and Aidan Quagliaroli and their parents Dan and Kathy Quagliaroli. She has a large family, as well as a large extended family-of-choice who will all miss her.
She was a beacon of love and light, had the biggest heart and was fun, and funny. She will be missed by all who loved her and knew her, her family, her countless friends, but especially by her husband and life companion, Brooks.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, the Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, Unity at the Lake, South Lake Tahoe, or to any place that makes you smile, laugh or expand your consciousness.
There will be a Celebration of Life on Sunday, October 27 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at Valhalla Grand Hall. Parking is limited, so please car pool. We will be having a limited number of people speaking at the celebration. If you are interested in speaking, please contact Reverend Stew Bittman at bittmanbliss@att.net. A second celebration of life will be held in Iraan, Texas in the spring of 2025.