Martha Nassif Zaytoun

Martha Nassif Zaytoun 93, passed away on Wednesday July 17, 2024 peacefully with her family at her side. Martha was born July 14, 1931 in Smithfield, NC, and grew up in Warsaw and Wilson NC. She married Dr. Henry Stanley Zaytoun, a dentist in Rocky Mount, NC February 21, 1950. Martha and Henry later moved to Raleigh where they opened an orthodontic practice and raised their 9 children.

Martha was a lifelong devout Catholic and a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Raleigh where she attended Mass weekly and played the organ for over 20 years. No day ended without her devotion to Mother Mary as she prayed the rosary every night with her husband, Henry.

Along with her love for music, Martha was a patron of the arts. She was a Founding Member (1964) and Past President of The Raleigh Fine Arts Society where she initiated 3 major projects still in existence today: NC Artists Exhibition; high school Literary Contest, and elementary school Choral Celebration. Martha was also a member of the Friends of the College at NCSU, an organization formed to bring renowned classical musicians and artists to perform at the Reynolds Coliseum in the 1960’s and 70’s. Since 1983 she endowed a musician chair, the second trumpet at the NC Symphony. For many years, she was a docent at the NC Museum of Art and conducted tours for school-aged children.

Martha was the recipient of the Bowers Medal of Arts from NCSU; appointed to the Executive Mansion Fine Arts Committee and headed up the NCMA Travel Committee in the 1980’s. Her contributions to the community were vast and many are still in place today. Along with her work in the community, Martha contributed to her husband’s orthodontic practice as business manager and administrator.

Always a consummate hostess, Martha made anyone who gathered in her home feel welcomed and loved with her congenial, southern hospitality and her abundance of food on the table. Her graciousness, generosity and grand style were superior to none. While she was well-traveled, her favorite place to go was the North Carolina coast where she spent her summers as a child and continued into her adult life.

Martha lived a full life and was a force to be reckoned with. She was a brilliant mind and her talents were unmatched. She inspired a generation of people to be more elegant, more giving, more responsible and better leaders. She taught those around her how to grow old gracefully and to never stop moving or living. She passed her love of the arts onto her children, along with her passion for travel. But most importantly, she passed along her fierce faith and love for God to her family and friends. Martha never wavered in her faith and stood strong with her husband, Henry by her side. She built a strong legacy through family, faith and community. Her love of beauty, art, music and style will be sorely missed and her sense of humor and sharp quips will be long remembered by anyone who came to know her. Martha never minced words and told it like it was…all with coiffed hair, manicured nails, elegant attire and always wearing her famous high heels.

Martha is survived by her husband of 74 years, Henry S. Zaytoun, Sr. of Raleigh, 9 children, 24 grandchildren, and 16 great grandchildren.

7 daughters: Marie Howard (John), Mary Paula Zaytoun Steele (Pat), Joanne Zaytoun, Carol Lynn Foster (Mark), Nancy Kenna (Tom), Michele Waters (Steve), Constance Zaytoun (Marc Weitz); 2 Sons: Henry, Jr (Mimi), Ellis (Leigh Ann); 10 Granddaughters: Alexandra Paski (Mark), Elena Penny (Matt), Martha Lee Brissette (Ryan), Mary Lanier Berne (Brett), Taylor, Clare, Martha, Rachel and Margaret Zaytoun, Becket Waters; 14 grandsons: Augustus and Charles Howard, Mark Foster, Jr. (Emily), Thomas Kenna, Jr (Iraida), Patrick Kenna (Kellum), Jeffrey Kenna (Emerson), Peter and Kevin Kenna, Henry Zaytoun III, (Mariane), Reeves Zaytoun, Blaise Waters (Erin), Haynes, Christian and Jeremiah Zaytoun; 16 great-great-grandchildren: Emmy and Wyatt Paski; Oliver and Clancy Foster; Paul, Wallace, Ellis and Mary Charles Brissette; Ella Jane, Oliver and Lucy Berne; Tommy, Sebastian and Avila Kenna; Patrick Kenna Jr.; Catherine Zaytoun.

Martha is preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Marie Nassif; parents-in-law, Ellis and Isabel Zaytoun; brother Joseph Nassif, and son-in-law, Pat Steele.

A visitation for Martha will be held Sunday, July 21, 2024 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.

Funeral Mass will occur Monday, July 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2718 Overbrook Drive, Raleigh, NC 27608. A reception will follow in the Fallon Center. A private burial will take place at Oakwood Cemetery.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and School

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the following: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and School, Birthchoice Pregnancy Center, or The Raleigh Fine Arts Society.