Monica M. Martin

Monica Martin was beloved by many, especially in her Guntersville and North Alabama communities. After growing up in Fullerton, California, she attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara, worked at the Fullerton Public Library, and completed professional photography training at Cypress College - and then moved with her beloved husband Diehl and her daughter Marie to north Alabama in 1988, where she started her professional photography career.

Monica was a professional photographer from 1988 through 2025, capturing people and surroundings at their best and showing us what moved her about the world. She made long-lasting friends around the country through the Professional Photographers of America and the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers, and she volunteered in leadership of the Professional Photographers of Mississippi and Alabama and Tennessee Valley and the Cheaha Professional Photographers’ Society. She participated in the Huntsville Photographic Society from 1989 onward, including judging competition. She enjoyed teaching darkroom classes, even after giving up her own darkroom when she moved to Guntersville in 2003.

Diehl and Monica moved to Guntersville in 2003, and when they did, they moved to the best hometown they had known, with people who embraced them as family and friends. They joined First Baptist Church, joined the choir, remodeled a house into a photo studio where they could also live, and participated with the Mountain Valley Arts Council. Monica took many pictures for Event Magazine.

After Diehl’s passing in 2007, Monica stayed active in her photo business and her church and was well supported by her community. The second time she went to hear the bluegrass rehearsal at church, Minister of Music Ken Patterson handed her a bass and offered to teach her to play. She played with the Pickers from then on. She loved playing the bass and started studying in earnest with Gary Waldrep and playing wherever she could, from bluegrass jams to performing Fever with Liz Riehl.

Monica had wanted to ride a motorcycle since junior college and never had, because Diehl had worried about her safety. When she was 65, she saw a pretty pearl colored motorcycle with flames for sale and thought hard about it. She asked Ken, who urged her to stay away from motorcycles. She asked Marie, who said “go for it!” And then she told Pastor Joel Samuels he was the tie vote. He encouraged her - so she bought her first motorcycle, a Road King Classic. She took the safety class and wore all the safety gear. She soon found the Road King Classic did not fit her, so she traded back to a small Honda to learn and practice. After getting comfortable and practicing, and talking to the dealerships in the area, she went to Sloan’s in Murfreesboro to buy her first Indian Scout 60, which actually fit her frame and felt Right. She found joy and freedom on the bike. She rode with groups, including Middle Tennessee Indian Motorcycle Riders Group, and rode long distances on her own, from the Dragon to the Twisted Sisters and from the Carolinas and Virginia to South Dakota and Texas. She put over 300,000 miles on motorcycles in 11 years, and the folks at Sloan’s took excellent care of her. She won the Mileage Masters competition three times, taking second place two other times.

On her final ride, she had taken a trip out west to see long time friends and family. She enjoyed the Oatman Highway and the Pacific Coast Highway, and in Redding she appears to have had a medical event on the motorcycle. She is missed deeply by her daughter, her sisters, her chosen brother Ken, her close friends, and her communities. She made a point to care for people and listen to them, and many people love her.

In her youth, Monica was quiet enough not to be noticed by people who were in classes with her, and when she was a young wife, she was shy enough not to meet a friend Diehl brought over despite making both of them lunch. She found her voice in midlife, with encouragement from her beloved Diehl. After his passing, she has missed him deeply, and she also found her own joy and freedom and has continued to be surrounded by love. Many thanks to all of you who were friends and supporters.

The funeral is scheduled for June 6 at 3 PM at First Baptist Church Guntersville, with visitation beforehand. If you would like to make a donation in Monica's honor, please send to First Baptist Church Guntersville.