Martha Church

Martha S. Church

September 24, 1934 – July 24, 2023

Martha was born in Lexington on September 24, 1934, the second youngest of Azielee and Garland Sink’s six children and the last survivor. Petite, soft-spoken, and tender-hearted, she was also feisty and quick. “She could run like a damn deer,” said her brother Tommy.

She was valedictorian of the Davis-Townsend graduating class of 1952. A friend wrote in her yearbook: “And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew / that one small head could carry all she knew.” Shy of the spotlight, she persuaded her friend Anna Briggs to deliver the graduation speech.

She attended Lenoir Rhyne College and began her career as a secretary on Lawyers’ Row. After starting her family, she worked as executive secretary to Irvin and Mike Albert, president and vice-president of Billings Transportation. She was scrupulously organized, a master of shorthand, the fastest typist they’d ever known. And she could read people. “I relied on her judgment,” Mike says.

She met Max Church in the summer of 1953. For Martha it was not love at first sight. She was modest and reserved; Max was gregarious. But her brother John encouraged her, and she and Max developed a friendship that deepened into love. On July 13, 1954, they were married by Rev. Billy Joe Leonard at Paul’s Chapel United Church of Christ.

They raised three children born over eight years. Martha was a natural mother: gentle, patient, loving, wise. She read and told stories, sang, rocked us in her lap, played games, ran foot races (which she never let us win), baked birthday cakes and pies, sewed, gave haircuts, and tried to instill strong values. Do unto others. Share what you have. Take care of things and they will last. When something breaks, fix it. Take your time and do things right. She was a meticulous housekeeper, a prudent manager of family finances, an excellent cook who cleaned up as she went. Her specials: deviled eggs, chess tarts, lemon meringue pie, banana pudding, and benne wafers.

She loved music. She was a gifted pianist, and she and Max sang in the choir at Paul’s Chapel – “our happiest times.”

When Max was disabled by a stroke in 1988, Martha adjusted her work schedule to help care for him. She would come home at lunchtime and he’d be waiting for his car ride – “Ess go!”

Max died in 1991. In 1992, Martha (“Poppi”) welcomed a new love into her life: her granddaughter Morgan. She doted on Morgan, let her do things she never let us do – jump on the bed, draw on the storm door, sit on the kitchen counter while she made cookies.

In retirement she enjoyed simple pleasures. Time with her granddaughter. Lunch with her crowd at Biscuit King. Thrift-store shopping for her family. She had an eye for treasure (jeans that fit!) and a talent for bargaining. She visited her Aunt Polly and Uncle Bill in the nursing home, always with cookies. She kept a calendar of birthdays and anniversaries and religiously sent cards, often ones she’d made. For as long as she was able, she kept flowers on all the family graves. She loved sitting on her front porch. “This porch,” she said, “is my travel.”

She had perfect penmanship, and in 2000 won the World Handwriting Contest sponsored by Handwriting for Humanity.

She had a dry, sneaky wit. She was not a joke-teller like Max. She always rushed the punchline and had to backtrack to set it up, a habit funnier than any joke.

She was not wasteful. She opened gifts without tearing the wrappings, which she saved and reused.

She was kind, tolerant, forgiving. “Don’t ever think you’re better than anyone,” she wrote in the grandmother’s journal she made for Morgan.

She was humble, never calling attention to herself. She was at heart an accompanist, playing piano for others to gather around and sing, adding her soft alto harmony.

She was brave. Even as her health declined, her spirit was strong. She was grateful for every day.

She died peacefully in her home on July 24 with her daughters at her side.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Max; sister Helen Sink and her partner Lessie Gaddy; brother Harold Sink and his wife Fallie; sister Rebecca Yarborough; brother John Sink; brother Thomas Sink and his wife Alice; nephew Harold “Chip” Sink; niece Dr. Julia L. Sink; and her lifelong best friend, Evelyn Hedrick Oates (“Squeak”). She is survived by her three children, Kim Church (Anthony Ulinski) of Raleigh; Andrew Church (Joni Walser) of Rowayton, CT; and Marty Hargrave (Wendell) of Lexington; granddaughter Morgan Hargrave; sister-in-law Marian Sink; brother-in-law Jack Yarborough; and the many nieces, nephews, and cousins she adored.

The family is grateful beyond words to the dedicated caregivers who made it possible for Martha to live out her days in the home she loved. Our gratitude, too, to the team at Well Care Hospice for their skill and compassion in guiding us through the last year and a half.

A memorial service will be held in the Davidson Funeral Home Chapel in Lexington on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 2 pm. The family will receive friends from 1- 2 pm before the service. Burial will follow at Paul’s Chapel cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to Nazareth Children’s Home, PO Box 1438, Rockwell NC 28138.

Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind. – Henri Frederic Amiel

Davidson Funeral Chapel, Lexington, is serving the Church family.

Online condolences may be made at www.davisonfuneralhome.net