Martha Boyce Colyer of Colchester, Vt., wife of Lawrence (Larry) Keyes, died on December 31, 2025, at home in the presence of family.
Martha was born in Albany, N.Y. She attended the Albany Academy for Girls.
She received a BA in art from Elmira College in Elmira, N.Y., where she met Larry. She completed an MA at the College of Saint Rose. After graduating she began her teaching career at the Bement School in Deerfield, Mass., and continued at the Montessori School of Albany. After a series of international adventures in the late 1970s (midnight crossing from East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie; and in Britain, a mistaken identity as a member of the Baader-Meinhof gang) and travel (Britain, Holland, Germany), she married Larry to move to Montréal.
After three years in Québec, both were ready to return to the States, and they chose to move to the Burlington, Vt., area, where they made their home for the past 40 years. Martha taught art at Richmond Elementary School for 10 years. She had a second career teaching basic skills to adult learners and New Americans at Vermont Adult Learning.
Martha was predeceased by her parents, Elizabeth (Baggerly) and Paul Colyer.
She leaves her husband, Larry Keyes; his brother Philip; and Phil’s wife, Laura, and their children, Tor and Christopher. She leaves her sister, Nancy Buckley; Nancy’s children, Peter, Elizabeth, David and Sarah; and eight grand-nieces and -nephews. She also leaves her cousins Joanne, Betty, Liz and Andrea.
Martha and Larry were married for 43 years and were together for much of 10 years prior to getting married. For Larry, Martha was his “Lebensgefährtin,” “the person with whom I traveled through life.”
Martha has many lifelong friends from childhood and from teaching. Many are far away, but she maintained a regular correspondence with cards, calls and emails. Margaret Sansone, Michèle Dominy, Cassie Keith, Leslie Knauf, Carmine Sargent, Lee Hollister and many others.
The family would like to thank the staff of the University of Vermont’s Cancer Center and UVM Hospice. A very special thanks to Margaret Sansone … who, with Larry, took loving care of her during her last days.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lund Family Center in Burlington or a charity of your choice, especially those that help children and families.
This article appears in Jan 7-13 2026.