Martha Carolyn Edens

COLUMBIA Memorial service for Martha Carolyn Edens, 87, will be held at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, October 15, 2015, at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church. Following the service, the family will receive friends in the church dining hall. Burial will be private in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Ms. Edens died Friday, October 9, 2015. Born in Richland County, she was the daughter of the late James Drake Edens Sr. and May Florence Youmans Edens. She graduated from Dreher High School, attended Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. and graduated from the University of South Carolina. Martha lived a well-spent life of love, dedication and generosity. In addition to being a loving, caring mother to her two children, Martha accomplished more in her life than most people even dream of. She was active in politics, her college fraternity, Zeta Tau Alpha, her church, Trenholm Road United Methodist and her community. Among the highlights of Martha’s many accomplishments was being awarded the Order of the Palmetto in 1995 by Governor Carroll A. Campbell. On the local level, she served the Richland County Republican Party as Party Chairman, Finance Chairman and Precinct Committeeman. Martha served as Vice Chairman of the First Tuesday Republican Club. She was a member of the Richland County Ivory Club, the Richland County Republican Women’s Club and was a governor’s mansion docent. A true community leader, Martha was also an active member of Trenholm Road United Methodist Church, having served on numerous boards and committees and was an Advisory Board member of Lutheran Theological Seminary. Martha was also an active board member of the Palmetto Society of the United Way and the Salvation Army of Columbia and she was former president and member of the State Board of Directors of South Carolina Easter Seal Society. Additionally, Martha was a member of the South Carolina Museum Commission and the SC Law Institute Council. She was a former member of the Advisory Board of Republic National Bank and the Citizens Committee for the Construction of the Richland County Judicial Center. She served as treasurer of the South Carolina Republican Party. A longtime member of the Capitol 100 Foundation, Martha served our state as National Committeewoman on the Republican National Committee, where she became known as one of the most outstanding national committeewomen in the nation. As National Committeewoman, she served on the Rules Committee of the RNC, was elected Vice Chairman of the Southern Region and served on the Chairman’s Executive Committee, having served four years in each of those positions. In 1992, Martha served, along with Honorary Chairman Carroll A. Campbell, as Chairman of the Southern Republican Conference. Elected to serve as one of eight members of the Site Selection Committee for the 1996 Republican National Convention, Martha also served on the Committee on Arrangements for the San Diego convention. On the state level, Martha had the honor of serving on the South Carolina Election Commission. She served as Vice President on the Board of Trustees of Brenau University for thirty years, received the Outstanding Alumnae Award for Community Service and received the prestigious Mary Mildred Sullivan Award given to distinguished alumnae. Martha was also a member of the Board of Visitors for Columbia College, the Advisory Board for the Medical University of South Carolina and served Richland County School District Two as a Board of Trustees member, Secretary, Vice President and Chairman. Additionally, Martha held office on the Board of Trustees of Richland Memorial Hospital and worked as a volunteer with the Help-Line Crisis Intervention Program and Baptist Medical Center Hospice. Dearest to her heart, though, was her lifelong involvement with Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity. She served as Province President for the states of North and South Carolina and Georgia, National Vice President, National President, National Extension Director, Chairman, International Office Building Committee, President of Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation and served on the Foundation Board as a director. Her fraternity honors were as an Honor Ring Recipient, Vivian Ulmer Smith Rushing Award, Alumnae Certificate of Merit, Louise Kettler Helper Award and Outstanding Alumnae Award. Martha Carolyn Edens had many dear friends who valued her dry wit, her sharp humor and her unfailing sense of style. Her honesty, ethics and fairness could always be counted on. She gave generously in donating her time and talents. Surviving are her daughter, Dinah Helms Cook (Phil); daughter- in-law, Pamela Blaylock Helms; grandchildren, Blake Edens Helms, James Cook, Jennifer Cook and Allison Cook. Also surviving are nieces and nephews and many dear friends. Martha was predeceased by her former husband, William Edgar Helms Jr.; her son, William Edgar Helms III; and brothers, James Drake Edens Jr. and William Youmans Edens Sr. Memorials may be made to a charity of one’s choice.