Samuelson, Martha Geffen 7/3/1940- 1/11/2016 Martha Samuelson passed away on January 11th after fighting ALS for 18 months. She was strong, smart, entrepreneurial, independent, generous, genuine, and loving to the end. Martha was born and raised in Jamestown, New York in the part of town then known as Swede Hill. After graduating from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, where she earned a Master's Degree in Social Services Administration, she moved to Minneapolis with her then-husband Arthur Geffen. Following a career in social work, Martha decided to pursue her passion for cooking. She took a job in the kitchen of the New French Café in the 1970s, where she perfected her cooking skills. In 1979 she and her business partner took over the restaurant and catering at the Walker Art Center, establishing the Gallery 8 café as an outstanding restaurant in the Twin Cities. She went on to open and run several other restaurants: The Studio at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the restaurant at the Luxeford Hotel, Fifth at Fifth at the Ford Center, and the Star Café in Stockholm, Wisconsin. After retirement, Martha moved from Pepin, Wisconsin, back to Minneapolis. She was very close with her grandchildren, providing countless hours of care and countless scoops of ice cream. She will be greatly missed by her grandchildren, Elena, Zoe, and Van; her sons, Jon and Ben; her daughters-in-law, Margo Dean Geffen and Laura Hulscher; her sister, Jane Samuelson and scores of friends. A memorial open house will be held on Sunday, March 6, between 3:30pm and 6:30pm at Blackbird Café, 3800 Nicollet Avenue South.