Obituary of Martha Southern Hirsch

Martha Southern Hirsch, 71 died Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at HIS in Bound Brook. She was born in Portsmouth, Ohio on Oct. 22, 1934 and was educated in Burlington, N.C. where her family moved in 1938. She graduated from Walter M. Williams High School in 1953 and following a year of study at Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C., she attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Music., In Princeton, she was a member of several choirs, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which performed frequently at Carnegie Hall under such esteemed conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Bruno Walter, Guido Cantelli and Dimitri Mitropoulos. In 1956-57, she sang with the Westminster Touring Choir conducted by John Finley Williamson, founder of the college, on a worldwide goodwill tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department. This choir was transported by military planes to venues in Japan, Vietnam, India, Thailand and Europe. After graduation, Mrs. Hirsch taught piano in her parents music studio in Burlington before joining Western Electric Company, also in Burlington. While at Western Electric, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at nearby Elon College. She remained with AT&T until her retirement, transferring first to Western Electric in Winston-Salem and then to AT&Ts research wing, Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill. At the Murray Hill, Whippany and Liberty Corner campuses, she participated in the original speech-processing project (computer voice) and in research leading to the development of the UNIX programming language. Mrs. Hirsch was also an alto soloist in several area churches, including the Bound Brook and Morristown Presbyterian churches. Additionally, she was an accomplished organist and flutist. After her retirement, she became active in a variety of volunteer activities, her favorite being with the Warren Township Library. She was an officer of the Friends of the Library, a member of the Library Advisory Board and co-manager of the annual book sale. She also acted as secretary for the trips committee of the Old Guard of Summit. Mrs. Hirsch is survived by her husband, Alfred E. Hirsch; two brothers, John C. Southern and David W. Southern, both of North Carolina; two nephews and a niece. A memorial service will be held at a later date in North Carolina. Visitation will be from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd. Watchung. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Warren Township Public Library, 42 Mountain Blvd. Warren, NJ 07059 or to the American Cancer Society, 669 Littleton Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054-4834.