Hettie M. Stevens, 90; 3rd-generation podiatrist

Hettie Martin Stevens, a podiatrist who had a practice in West Philadelphia for more than 30 years, died Dec. 24. She was 90 and lived in the Cheltenham York Road Nursing Home in Oak Lane.

Hettie was born in Dubuque, Iowa, the fifth of the nine children of Dr. Henry Ambrose Martin Sr., also a podiatrist, and the former Mattie Ducano.

She was a graduate of Dubuque High School and the Illinois College of Chiropody. She was the only woman podiatrist in a family of three generations of podiatrists.

She was licensed to practice podiatry in both Iowa and Pennsylvania, and maintained a private practice at 41st Street and Lancaster Avenue.

Hettie was active with the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, in Overbrook, and was a member of the church's Altar Guild. She was a member of the Ladies of Alpha of the Zeta Omicron Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha and was a past president of Pi Delta Mu, a sorority of African-American female podiatrists.

She married George A. Stevens IV in Wilmington, N.C., in 1944. He died in 2003.

She and her husband moved in 1980 to Princess Anne, Md., where they had a second home. While there, she served on the Altar Guild of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, was a licensed lay reader for the Diocese of Easton and was an active member of the Princess Anne chapter of The Links.

They lived for four years in the Manokin Manor Nursing Home in Princess Anne until his death. She then returned to Philadelphia.

Hettie was an avid reader of mysteries, and enjoyed sewing, cooking, the theater, TV westerns and horse racing.

She is survived by a daughter, Claudia Stevens Maddox; a son, George Alfred Stevens V; a brother, Robert L. Martin Sr., and a sister, Delores Martin Owens.

Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by four brothers, Henry A. Martin Jr., E. Clarence Martin, Thornton Martin and Joseph Martin, and two sisters, Lillian Martin and Vivian Martin Smith.

Services: Requiem Mass 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Simon the Cyrenian Church, 1401 S. 22nd St. Friends may call at 9:30 a.m. *

John F. Morrison