Marty Cheek, who leaves a lasting legacy, dies at 57
Morgan Hill Life publisher and 2011 Man of the Year fondly remembered
By Robert Airoldi
Photos courtesy Poonam Chabra and John McKay. Marty Cheek at the Holi Hindu festival celebrated by IASC March 30 of this year. It is a festival of colors, love, and spring. Above: Cheek with his novel “Humanity – A Vision-2020.”
Marty Cheek, the publisher of Morgan Hill Life and Gilroy Life died unexpectedly Sept. 9 at the age of 57, leaving behind a legacy of volunteerism that touched the entire South Valley.
Known mostly as the publisher, he was also an avid supporter of numerous nonprofits and local causes, including serving as a mentor to many young writers and co-teaching a writing class at Sobrato High School. He was the recipient of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year in 2011 and Morgan Hill Life was awarded Small Business of the Year in 2019.
Born in Hollister Nov. 29, 1966, Cheek graduated from Palma High School in Salinas in 1985 then attended Gavilan College where he was the student paper’s managing editor then associate editor. He transferred to San Jose State University where he graduated in 1995 with a degree in journalism. Prior to co-founding Morgan Hill Life 11 years ago and Gilroy Life three years later, Cheek worked for a financial publication in London for a year before returning to the states. He wrote for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, the Gilroy Dispatch and the Morgan Hill Times. In 2012, Cheek took leave as a writer for the Times and Dispatch to run for Morgan Hill Unified School Board.
Cheek co-authored “Clean Energy Nation: Freeing America From the Tyranny of Fossil Fuels,” with Congressman Jerry McNerney. In truth, he said, the book idea was mostly Cheek’s idea and he did the lion’s share of the writing. His writing was easy to read and engaging.
McNerney and his wife Mary became close friends.
“We enjoyed being together with Marty who was always upbeat and enthusiastic with lively conversation,” McNerney said. “He wanted to make the world a better place and shared his vision without hesitation or doubt.”
McNerney call him “a true gentleman who was gracious and generous.”
Always looking for the positive in life, Marty will be missed by many, he said.
One of those many people is David Nellis, a former counselor who advertised in Morgan Hill Life before retiring and met Cheek while active in the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. Their friendship continued to build when they were both volunteer workers and members in ‘Granada Theater Preservation Society,’ he said.
Today, Nellis 94, who lives at Merrill Gardens in Gilroy, said Cheek continued to visit, delighting him with his stories and presence.
“I’ve lost a genuine friend, one of the most authentic people I’ve ever known,” Nellis said.
But it was Cheek’s desire to save democracy and see global peace by the year 2040 that fueled his passion the past four years. His books “The Path to Peace: A Vision-2020 Plan to Unite Humanity,” “Vision-2020: Be a Hero for Humanity,” and “Humanity: A Vision-2020 Novel” were written to further those goals.
His unique experience growing up surely contributed to those goals. As Marty explained, his grandfather voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932, but his grandmother disagreed. Though his grandparents never joined the Nazi party, they kept quiet to avoid suspicion and protect their two children — son, Gerhard, and daughter, Gisela (Cheek’s mother), who endured the bombing of her beloved Berlin.
As the Nazi’s began arresting and deporting Jews to camps, his grandparents took action. Working with another Lutheran couple, they hid a Jewish family in a secret basement, risking their lives.
“Only after the war did my grandparents tell my mother what they had done,” he wrote in explaining his Vision-2020 quest. “When she told me the story years later, I felt intensely proud. They were not conventional heroes, only ordinary people who decided — on a small but profound scale — that good must triumph over evil.”
It was that courage that eventually led Cheek to follow their example, in his own way.
After moving to Morgan Hill, Cheek quickly made friends and an impact.
One of those was Susan Hines, who met him in 2008 at the inaugural Morgan Hill Photography Club holiday party.
“Little did I know that soon I would be considering this warm, outgoing, inquisitive, science-loving, storytelling, opinion-challenging, idealistic, and occasionally goofy journalist as a little brother from another mother (father, too),” she said.
They found a bond working together to make science fun, free, and accessible for Morgan Hill and Gilroy families. A Leadership Morgan Hill graduate, he proclaimed his was the “worst class ever” (contrary to the organizations’ mantra), while pushing Hines and many others to participate in the program.
“He seemed to be everywhere, volunteering with our local nonprofits, to help afford opportunities for the community he loved — and who loved him,” she said. “And when my husband passed away, he was right there, as brother, chaperone, chief cheer leader, and guide.”
After hearing she had been maneuvered into a date with a recent widower some years later, he joined them for coffee and proceeded to interrogate (Phil) for two hours to make sure he was the “right guy.” (He is.), she said.
“While Marty always gave of himself, it was a little difficult to get him to receive,” she said. “One of my fondest times with Marty was when I surprised him with a tour of Lick Observatory followed by a Music of the Spheres concert. With his love of music and science, he was in seventh heaven.”
Another friend who met Cheek is Stu Nuttall, whose son Calvin now writes for Life Media Group.
“When (my wife) Debbi and I and our kids moved to Morgan Hill we collaborated along with (now retired dentist) Jon Hatakeyama to create a plaque at the San Pedro Percolation Ponds.
“During the following years we watched Marty’s career grow, books get published, and more outdoor adventures.”
John McKay said Cheek was the first real friend he made in Morgan Hill.
One day Marty told them about the newspaper he was going to create.
“That newspaper became his wife, his muse, and at times the monkey on his back,” he added. “His dedication was complete and everything else was relegated to second place.”
McKay said life will never be the same.
“So much of Michelle’s and my world included Marty and his smart, goofy, and compassionate presence,” he said. “I hope we can all pick up a piece of the mantel Marty left for us, to try to create more peace and harmony in our individual worlds and beyond.”
Nick Gaich, the president and CEO of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce said Cheek did so much for this city, through the paper, volunteerism, and passion for a better Morgan Hill.
“Marty spread goodness wherever he went,” he said. “The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce was lucky enough to work with Marty for many years and we will hold those memories close as we grieve this huge loss.”
Gaich said Cheek’s books were written to spread his ideas for a better tomorrow and a more peaceful future. You can hear him talk about his passion on an episode of the chamber’s Quick 5 podcast recorded in 2022.
Lori Allen, director of programs and member services for the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, became close friends with Marty several years ago and he became a constant in her life.
“He would pick me up for what he called ‘surprise day trips,’” she said. “He would simply tell me what time to be ready and what kind of shoes to wear and that would be all I knew about what we were doing until we got there. To know those days will never happen again breaks my heart to pieces. He was truly the kindest, most peace loving man to walk this planet.”
Photo courtesy John and Michelle McKay Morgan Hill Life publisher Marty Cheek is all smiles at Ladera Grill celebrating a friend’s birthday.
Just recently, she said, he saw a homeless man in Hollister and recognized him as a friend from school. The compassion and true hurt he felt by seeing his former classmate in this state was very obvious. In true Marty style, he chatted with this man, gave him some money and fed him.
“This is just the kind of man Marty was,” she said. “‘Was,’” I will never get used to saying that about him.”
To list the nonprofits and organizations Cheek supported would fill this space. But two of his favorites were the South Valley Civic Theater (he performed in several plays throughout the years) and the South Valley Symphony.
Symphony conductor Anthony Quartuccio said whenever Marty came to a rehearsal, attended a concert, interviewed them on the phone, or met for lunch, his passion for music and life in general filled the room with is uniquely infectious energy.
“The musicians of the South Valley Symphony and I loved him more deeply than we can express with words,” Quartuccio said. “Marty loved music with unbridled passion, and loved our home-town orchestra with all his heart. After symphony performances his eyes were often glassy with tears when the music moved him to a place of rapture. He was a consummate music lover and artist himself. Marty knew the depths of expression that are possible through great art, and with his gift of the pen shared them with our entire community.”
Quartuccio said Cheek will forever be an honorary member of the South Valley Symphony and they will dedicate their opening concert of their 51st season Oct. 6 at Guglielmo Winery to Cheek.
His childhood friend Jonathan Medina met him when they were bagging groceries at K & S Market in Hollister and calls him his “brother from another mother.”
His love of the outdoors and hiking was evident from the beginning as they enjoyed trekking the Pinnacles on New Year’s Day, Kings Canyon National Park and a few years ago in Sequoia National Park.
“He loved to tease me about the time we got to Kings Canyon and I had forgotten my sleeping bag,” Medina recalled. “’I can’t believe an Eagle Scout forgot his sleeping bag,’ but it was all in good fun.”
After both his parents died, Cheek would spend Christmas with the Medina family.
“We always had these great conversations on these hikes in the forest and long walks after Christmas dinner and I always found myself thinking about our conversations for days afterward,” Medina said. “He would talk about the story he just published or the one he was working on. He would light up with excitement as he talked about it.”
Medina said Cheek continued to talk excitedly about the stories he was writing, but now he was even more excited about the sense of community he was helping to build in Morgan Hill and later in Gilroy.
“I loved reading his work because he had a marvelous way of capturing the essence of the people he was writing about,” he said.
And it was that love of writing that led Cheek to mentor young writers. Keira Silver first contacted Cheek when she was a junior at Christopher High School and decided she wanted to be journalist.
“I had emailed many other publications in the area asking for an opportunity to volunteer, shadow, or intern for their paper,” she said. “No one replied back to me. No one else gave me a chance. But Marty did.”
Cheek believed strongly in the power of youth and he wanted more women and young people in the field of journalism, and he believed the best way to achieve this was by mentoring young writers, she said.
“During the course of a year and a half, I wrote 15 stories and took photos for the paper,” she said. “He told me I was a talented reporter and writer, and that I would make it big someday. He believed in me so much that he took me along with him to interview Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley and officials for the San Jose Sharks, even though it was only my second story.”
Silver today is a journalism student at California State University, Monterey Bay where she is actively working for the school paper.
“Marty ignited a spark in me I will be forever grateful for,” Silver said. “I will always remember how thoughtful and kind he was. I can still hear his voice in my head as I write. His very last words to me were, ‘great story! I’m proud of you, Keira,’” she said.
Cheek continued to mentor the next generation of journalists, teaching them the same skills.
To that end, he began co-teaching a creative writing and advanced creative writing classes with Sobrato instructor Chrissy Hunger.
He was coming in once a week to help students learn about the ethics of journalism, writing headlines, how to interview, and how to take good photographs. He worked in small groups, led lessons and said that six times during the year, he planned to pick the best story submitted by the students and that story would be published in the paper. The students who were chosen were going to be paid as freelance writers.
Dan McCranie, the owner of Colibri Art and Framing and Ladera Grill got to know Cheek through advertising in the paper and when he would dine there.
“Marty had that rare quality of being passionate in his beliefs, while at the same time, staying gracious and upbeat in discussing those beliefs. I am going to miss those conversations very much,” McCranie said.
There is a GoFundMe to help with his celebration of life and to continue his legacy at www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-marty-cheek-support-his-final-farewell?qid=0b3ae55341da6c1206e6f27c3c9e640d. It will be scheduled at a later date.