Martha Houston Reid Hammond

Martha Houston Reid Hammond, (“Nini” to her grandchildren, “Martha Houston” to her closest friends), passed on peacefully to our Lord November 4th in Dallas, Texas, four days after her 94th birthday. Martha was the quintessential Southern lady; people were drawn to her warmth, sense of humor and wit (oh, what wit!), kindness, and charm (and fashion!). She successfully juggled being a mother (the best!), a businesswoman and many philanthropic pursuits. She was a selfless soul with a servant’s heart. You felt loved just being in her presence.

Born October 31,1929, Martha spent most of her early childhood traveling between Corinth, MS and Iuka, MS. Her father, John Houston Reid and uncle, Clifton Reid, founded Reid Brothers, a men’s clothing store, in Iuka in 1919, after returning home from the Great War. In 1928, they opened a second store in Corinth with the help of Mr. Shelby Curlee. Martha’s family moved permanently to Corinth to run the store.

Martha graduated from Corinth High School in 1948. After high school, she attended Ward-Belmont College, a two-year finishing school for young ladies in Nashville, TN. From there she matriculated to Ole Miss in 1950 for one year. While there she was elected President of the Women’s Student Government Association.

Martha was introduced to her husband, Barnett Douglas “Doug” Hammond in the spring of 1947. They met at the Cotton Carnival in Memphis, TN when she represented Corinth at the Teen-Age Ball and he represented Holly Springs, MS. Martha and Doug were the first couple to marry in the new First Baptist Church building in Corinth on August 31,1951. After completing their degrees in Jackson, MS (Doug at Millsaps in 1951, Martha at Belhaven in 1952), Doug enlisted in the Navy and was stationed in Norfolk, VA where they had their first child, Candy.

The family of three made their permanent home in Corinth in 1955 after Doug completed his Naval service. Doug joined Reid Bros. where he and Martha worked side by side for almost 40 years and opened and ran two additional stores with ladies’ clothing and gifts – The Clothes Pen (connected to Reid Bros.) and Hammond House. Always the creative sort, Martha wrote almost every radio spot and newspaper advertisement ever published for the stores (“Reid Bros…putting you together yet setting you apart"). Many (very many!) Corinth teenagers’ first jobs were working at one of the three stores, either "on the floor” or way “up top” in gift wrap during the Christmas season. Martha and Doug went on to add three more daughters and a son to their family while running their businesses.

When she wasn’t at the stores or with her children, Martha was active in the Junior Auxiliary in Corinth, the Corinth Music Club and First United Methodist Church. She served on the original board of the Corinth Theatre-Arts in 1968. Along the way, Martha mentored many other businesswomen in Corinth. Together she and Doug helped establish “The Candy Classic Memorial” tennis tournament in 1978 to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in memory of their daughter, Candy, who died of leukemia at the age of 10.

Some of Martha’s favorite pastimes (when not working in the stores) were working in the yard (usually at dawn in her nightgown!), feeding the birds and ducks and loving on her family’s dogs, cats (so many cats and kittens!), parakeets and fish. After closing the stores in 1995, and to her delight, Martha found that she finally had time for another favorite pastime - writing! In 2003, she published her book Mama Said…, a collection of snippets of wisdom, humor, and common sense that she had collected or jotted down on scraps of paper, church bulletins, napkins, envelopes, spiral notebooks, and recipe cards throughout the years. This book of sage advice was dedicated to her daughters and granddaughters and is her legacy to her family - a cherished reflection of her taste, style, good sense, cleverness, wisdom, and grace.

Martha was preceded in death by her husband, Barnett Douglas (Doug) Hammond, her parents, Annie Reid Adams Reid and John Houston Reid, her brother, Dr. Clifton Shelby Curlee Reid and her daughter Candace Ann “Candy” Hammond. Survivors include three daughters, Shannon Umstattd (Hale) of Austin, TX, Courtney Love (Rob) of Jackson, MS, Shelby Flaten (Rich) of Dallas, TX, a son, Barnett Douglas (Barney) Hammond, Jr. of Dallas, TX, eleven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren (and one more any day now!).

Visitation will be from 12:00 p.m. until 12:45 p.m. Friday, November 24th, at the Fillmore Street Chapel in Corinth. A memorial service will follow visitation at 1 p.m. Immediately after the service, a private burial will be held at Henry Cemetery. Dr. Prentiss Gordon and Reverend Kim Ratliff will officiate the service. In lieu of flowers, please contribute in Martha’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN (www.stjude.org) or First Methodist Church in Corinth (www.fumc-corinth.org), or the charity of one’s choice.