Martha Upchurch Rutledge

Martha Upchurch Rutledge passed away on December 15, 2015 at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, MS. Visitation will be held Thursday, December 17, 2015 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Lakewood Funeral Home and from 10:00 to 11:00 am at First Baptist Church of Clinton. Services will be held at 11:00 am at First Baptist Church of Clinton. Burial to follow in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Greenwood, MS. at 3:30 pm.

Martha was born to Robert Burton and Lizzie York Upchurch on December 26, 1921. She grew up in the Shiloh Community of Yalobusha County. Martha attended Holmes Junior College where she met her future husband, James Madison Rutledge. Martha and “Stud” lived most of their lives in Greenwood, MS. In 1997 she moved to Clinton, MS, to be near her daughter.

Martha was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and her siblings: Julia Morgan of Coffeeville, MS; Mary Smith of Baton Rouge, LA; Juanita Upchurch of Coffeeville, MS; and William Upchurch of Coffeeville, MS. Also preceding her in death were a grandson, Gerald Craig Ladner, and a granddaughter, Elizabeth Ladner.

Martha is survived by daughters Jane (Gerry) Ladner of Waynesville, NC, and Ann (Ronald) Kyzar of Clinton, MS; grandchildren Laura Jefferis of Madison, MS; James Kyzar of Saline, MI; and Sara Cartee of Clinton, MS; three great-grandchildren; and a sister Burtie Hamilton of Natchez, Mississippi. Martha,

“Markie,” was loved by her family and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.