Martha Minor Wilcox

Martha Minor Wilcox was born in “The Secret City,” Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1956, to William Jenkins Wilcox Jr. and Eugenia Holder Wilcox. She enjoyed the advantages of growing up with loving older siblings: sister Kitty Ellen Wilcox Soldano and brother William Holder Wilcox, both of whom she admired and adored from childhood throughout her life. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 1978 with a degree in journalism and a focus on public relations. The day after graduation, she married James Edward Pickle and moved later that week to Los Angeles where they lived for 12 years. While in Los Angeles, she blossomed working in the advertising agency scene, working at Marsteller, Young and Rubicam, and keye /donna/pearlstein with people who taught her the excitement and joy of creativity. The delight of her life, son Robert Wilcox Pickle, was born in Los Angeles in 1987. Three years later, in 1990, they moved to Alexandria, Virginia.

For the first few years after moving to Alexandria, Martha enjoyed the luxury of being a full-time mom, throwing herself fully into motherhood, and volunteering at Christ Church Alexandria, ALIVE and the Campagna Center. When Rob was seven, she began working part time from home for Janik and Associates, an ad agency in Los Angeles that needed an East Coast representative. After becoming a single mother in 1998, she returned to full time work, enjoying 13 years at Williams Whittle where she excelled developing new business and managing high visibility accounts, including the USO and the American Red Cross. In 2012, she joined Safe Kids Worldwide as their Chief Marketing Officer, working to prevent childhood injury, a mission that held her deep commitment. She launched an independent consultancy in 2021, and immediately had a wide variety of clients, providing branding, strategy, creative, and public relations services. She found it particularly gratifying to work as a campaign strategist on the Federal Covid Response.

In 2008, she married her beloved husband Robert McIntyre and gained a son, Matt McIntyre. She thrived in Bob’s loving care, travelling the world, enjoying glorious food, discovering new ideas and places, spending time with their sons and their families, deepening their relationships with each other’s families, and savoring the joys of being tenderly loved by one another.

She was sustained by a lifelong faith in God that nourished, guided, and inspired her. Praying provided a way to deepen her relationship with God and express her love for family, friends, coworkers, and those who were suffering. Throughout her adulthood she thrived on exploring the mysteries of faith with others. She drew strength from marveling at nature and God’s creation.

Martha maintained her active involvement at Christ Church for 35 years, serving on the Vestry, the Outreach and Mission committees, singing in the choir, teaching, preaching and being involved in a variety of other ministries. She was a Trustee on the Board at Goodwin House, Inc. for nine years.

While her work was a sustaining source of creativity and gratification, her first loves were always her faith, her family, and her friends, and she was richly blessed with all three.

She thrived with cancer for nearly three and a half years until her death on March 8th at the age of 68.

She is survived by husband Robert McIntyre; son Robert Pickle and daughter-in-law Hana Beckerle; son Matthew McIntyre, daughter-in-law Joanna McIntyre, grandson Brody McIntyre and granddaughter Blair; sister Kitty Soldano and brother-in-law James Soldano; brother William Wilcox and sister-in-law Elizabeth Todd. She also leaves her cherished nieces and nephews and their children; her beloved McIntyre family; and many treasured friends. A Memorial Gathering will take place on Friday, March 21st from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Demaine Funeral Home located at 520 S. Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314. A service will be held at Christ Church in Alexandria on Saturday March 22nd at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA, or the Campagna Center in Alexandria.