HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Martha Kostyra, whose daughter Martha Stewart credits her with teaching her many domestic tricks and techniques, has died at a hospital near her home in Weston. She was 93.
Stewart announced her mother's death Saturday on her blog, and Weston selectman Glenn Major confirmed the death.
Kostyra, a retired teacher whose family long ago nicknamed her "Big Martha," died Friday at Norwalk Hospital of undisclosed causes, according to a notice published Saturday in local newspapers.
Kostyra and her husband, the late Edward Kostyra, raised the future domestic doyenne and her five siblings in Nutley, N.J., where, Stewart said, she learned many tricks of what later turned into her trade.
In an appearance together in December 2003 on CNN's "Larry King Live," Kostyra described herself as "very proud" of her daughter's accomplishments.