Kate Martin suffered many tragedies around the same time, including the death of her husband, Henry Martin; the loss of her daughter-in-law, Helen; and the devastating news that her son, Paul, was missing in action in Vietnam.
Her elder son, Joe, moved his family back to Pine Valley as response to Helen's death.
Tara had turned to her with apprehensions about marrying Chuck Tyler, but Kate could provide no definitive answer.
Nor was Kate able to explain why Jeff Martin would rush into a sudden marriage with Erica Kane.
Kate disapproved of Phoebe's intervention in Tara and Chuck's relationship, and was not about to help her weed in Paul's life.
Kate invited Dan Kennicott to move in with the Martins while he attended Pine Valley University.
Kate calmed her fears, telling her to wait for test results before making any assumptions about the baby’s health.
When he accidentally crashed the family station wagon, Tad decided to run away from home, breaking Kate’s heart.
The accident convinced Ruth to get rid of the gun and not live in fear of Ray’s return.
Ray had run away with the bomb after learning his daughter, Jenny Gardner, was staying over at the Martin home.