Martha M. Ferrara, a retired Howard County real estate agent and world traveler, died Monday of renal cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 80.
"She was unique in every way. She was a very strong-minded and hardworking person who was fiercely loyal to her friends," said Gisela Woelper of Taylorsville, a friend for more than 50 years.
The daughter of Joao da Crus Magalhaes, a businessman, and Guiomar Ferreira Leite, a homemaker, the former Martha Magalhaes was one of 12 children.
She was born in Ferros, a small city in the interior of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and raised on her family's farm.
When she was in her teens, she moved to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where she worked in the textile industry while attending high school at night.
She later worked for Pirelli, the tire manufacturer, as an office worker, and then with Olivetti, where she trained people how to use typewriters, adding machines and other office equipment manufactured by the company.
Ms. Ferrara came to Baltimore in 1962 and worked as a caregiver for a patient who was suffering from multiple sclerosis.
She later earned her real estate license and worked for more than 35 years, mostly with Long & Foster in Columbia.
The former Ellicott City and Columbia resident closed on her last house in December 2014 and retired, family members said.
"She had a very successful real estate career," said Ms. Woelper, who once shared an apartment with Ms. Ferrara. "In fact, she was successful in everything that she did.
"I first met her in school in 1963. We both attended night classes at City College where foreigners learned to speak English," said Ms. Woelper.
"I came from Germany and she came from Brazil," she said with a laugh. "In the beginning, we couldn't communicate with each other, but since we learned English, we haven't shut up."
Ms. Ferrara became a U.S. citizen shortly after moving to Baltimore, family members said.
"She loved reading about American history, and her two favorite figures were Eleanor Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln," said Ms. Woelper.
"She was somebody that I would call a matriarch — and that became very apparent when she got sick and people rallied around her to make sure that she had the best care," said Sarah Brumfield of Silver Spring, who is married to a nephew of Ms. Ferrara's.
"She was funny, caring, meticulous and demanding," said Ms. Brumfield. "She could be blunt in a way that I appreciated, because you knew how she felt about things. I appreciate that in people."
Ms. Ferrara, who had lived in Towson, actively supported disabled veterans and the Sierra Club.
An avid traveler, she visited China, Australia, Turkey and Europe. She was also a skier. And when she was 79, she went skydiving for the first time, accompanied by one of her sons.
Ms. Ferrara enjoyed gourmet cooking and entertaining family and friends.
Plans for funeral services are incomplete.
She is survived by two sons, John Edward Ferrara of Ellicott City and Antonio Mario Ferrara of Boynton Beach, Fla.; a brother, Juscelino Roberto de Magalhaes of Brazil; and nine sisters, Neide Magalhaes Kramer of Glyndon, Natercia Jackson of Phoenix, Baltimore County, Zelia Bates of Fredericksburg, Va., and Janua Coeli Magalhaes Lage, Marcia Magalhaes Baptista, Maria Nelma Magalhaes Meira, Dilma Magalhaes da Silva, Guiomar Vilma de Magalhaes and Ana Alexina Magalhaes Ferreira, all of Brazil. Her marriage to Antonio Ferrara ended in divorce.