Tribute for D.C. agency exec Tina Martin attracts approximately 200 people

Approximately 200 people attended a tribute for Tina Martin at Olney Theatre Center on Sept 11. Martin, who co-founded Martin-Schaffer, Inc a Bethesda-based, a full-service advertising and marketing firm, died on June 16 at age 77. Her death resulted from the side effects of treatments for metastatic breast cancer.

The 90-minute tribute was a blend of memories and music. One of the speakers discussed her wit and sense of humor, plus the fact she made people feel valued. Another speaker described the twinkle in her eye.

Martin stated she wanted to write her own obituary but, as she said to her wife, Mita Schaffer, left in photo. “I’ve run out of time.”

Martin, who, along with Schaffer, was involved in multiple area theaters – Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Signature Theatre and Theater J – and created the Imagination Stage name.

Martin wrote a synopsis of her life, below, in a recent profile for a local theater’s 2024 gala:

I am an imaginative person. All my life I have imagined my way into things and imagined my way out. It’s an enjoyable way to live. Some people want me to imagine for free. And I will. But only for people and organizations that have earned my admiration and affection.

As a child I loved music, art, reading and playing pretend, so it was only natural that I became a “theater kid” at 14, performing with adults in hometown productions. While I was that “theater kid,” I learned many real-world skills such as planning, “How will I get to rehearsal? Do I have enough money for the bus?” Taking responsibility was a given. Today’s children deserve to have a safe, nurturing environment to “learn on the job,” too.”

Tina knew firsthand that the arts can both make and change lives.

Born in Lancaster, PA, Tina was the oldest of six children and the only girl. She attended Lancaster Catholic High School and then worked at local department stores and at WLAN radio, writing advertising copy and learning that her
imagination could lead to a career.

She left for Washington, D.C., in the late 1960s and found work writing radio commercials at the city’s largest agency. Her talent shone, and she received multiple awards for her writing and her uniquely memorable ad campaigns.

Yet never far from the stage in the 1960s and 1970s, Tina appeared in numerous productions in and around town, receiving rave reviews for her performances.

Then she became involved with “Sneakers,” a half-hour Saturday morning kids TV show that ran for two years from 1976-77 on WTOP, now WUSA. As one of the puppet directors and a co-writer, collaborating with a small team of like-minded creatives, Tina contributed to the show’s winning three regional Emmy awards.

In the late 1970s, Tina and a friend conceived, produced and directed “Troupers – A Contemporary Vaudeville Show” that played for several successful weeks in a theater on Capitol Hill.

All the while, Tina was honing her skills at ad agencies across the area. Tina met Mita while working together at an agency in Bethesda, MD. They soon realized that they worked and played well together and decided to open Martin-Schaffer Advertising. For over 25 years with Tina as Creative Director, the agency won numerous local and national awards for campaigns large and small, in fields as diverse as biotechnology, banking, and law office support technology, as well as hospitality, government contracting and healthcare recruitment advertising. Clients counted on Tina’s imagination to help them exceed their goals and position their organizations in the minds of target audiences. She did it superbly, and clients brought their work to Martin-Schaffer time and again, resulting in the firm becoming one of the area’s largest.

The little girl from Lancaster had grown into a creative force among the Washington area’s most respected women in advertising.

In 2011, Tina and Mita closed the firm and retired. Tina was then able to spend more time engaged with the arts, as a theater board member, as an even more frequent audience member at theater, dance and musical performances, in addition to visiting museum exhibitions and becoming a donor to theaters close to her heart.

Tina’s fine wit and facility with words made her constantly entertaining, and she leaves behind a multitude of friends, many of whom she’d met through her passion for the arts.

To honor Tina’s memory, please consider a donation to JSSA Hospice, 6123 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD, 20852. Or visit www.jssa.org.

PHOTO: Mita Schaffer and Tina Martin, creative team sponsors for the 2016 production of Evita at Olney Theatre Center, with director Will Davis.