Dates

• Existence: 1934-

Biography

Mona Lea Kadel was born in Illinois in 1934 to Vera Margaret Schmidt Kadel and Herman Conrad Kadel. She attended Western Illinois State College, graduating in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science Education, a second major in Home Economics, and a minor in Biology. She married Robert Martin that year; they had two children, Beth Ann and Charles Robert Martin. Mona Martin worked as a reporter for the The Rock Island Argus, during the summers of 1954 and 1955. After graduating from Western Illinois, she returned to The Rock Island Argus, leaving during her first pregnancy. From 1962 to 1971, she worked as a teacher, including a position as head of the science department of St. Katharine's School, an all-girl college preparatory school. In 1969, Martin was honored with the Quad-City Science Teacher of the Year Award, and honored at the National Youth Conference on the Atom in Chicago. Returning to school between 1968 and 1971, she did graduate work in both Earth Science and Biology through both Iowa State University and the University of Iowa at distance locations in the Quad Cities. During that time, she was one of seven women in the country to be accepted for a National Science Foundation grant to study with the Earth Science Curriculum Project at the Boy Scouts' Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Mona Martin's political activism began in 1972 when she joined the League of Women Voters of Scott County. She was state president of the League from 1981 to 1983 and moderated a live debate during the 1982 gubernatorial campaign. For two years, 1978-1980, she chaired the U.S. Department of Energy Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee, supporting energy conservation and alternative energy sources. She also served as president of the Iowa Division of the United Nations Association and for seventeen years on the Davenport Plan and Zoning Commission, where she became the first female chair. Mona Martin was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, District 43, as a Republican Party member in 1992. She served four terms before retiring in 2001. During that period, she chaired the State Government Committee for six years and served on various other committees, including the Human Resources, Economic Development, Ethics, and Health and Human Rights Appropriation committees. While in the House, she sought legislation to protect the elderly, particularly in nursing homes, and to ensure longer hospital stays for mothers after delivery. She also worked on bills pertaining to gambling, juvenile justice, and reproductive rights.

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