Martha Mae Hardin

Martha was born in Holly Springs, Georgia February 26, 1924, to Herman and Annie Childers on a cotton farm; one of seven children. She learned early to appreciate the land and hard work. As a young adult, she joined others to carpool from Holly Springs to Lockheed in Marietta and joined support of the war effort during WWII. Afterward, she embarked on her life as a single career woman in “downtown” Atlanta working at Davison’s department store. At an uncle’s funeral, she reunited with a childhood friend who had returned from the Korean war and on July 17, 1954 she married George Hardin, also from Holly Springs, Georgia.

They began their married life in Marietta, Georgia then moved to Chula Vista, California where they began raising their three children. A job relocation eventually took them to Washington, NC for a brief stay. After her husband’s untimely death, she returned to Georgia and made a home in Marietta as a single mom. Always busy, she taught Sunday School at Marietta First UMC, had a garden every year, canned all her vegetables, went back to school for a career in nursing/home health care, and spoke of her unfailing faith to any and all that would listen! She was a natural caregiver and her parting words were always “what can I do to help.” Her children and grandchildren never failed to leave her without hearing “I love you” and “I am so proud of you.” Feisty and always determined, even hip surgery at 95 did not keep her in bed and never would she admit to napping in the afternoon!

Always humble, she relished the simple things in life and never had time for the material concerns of the world. Elegant in a dress when she needed to be, her comfort place was jeans on the front porch until the day she passed. To those that knew her and the many challenges she experienced in her long life, all would agree she epitomized unconditional love and unconditional faith. There were no “if then” phrases in her world.

Martha is survived by her daughter, MaryAnne Winchester and husband, Randy of Roswell, GA; her son George Hardin, Jr. and his wife Diane of Hattiesburg, MS; and her son Mark Lee Hardin, of Marietta, GA. Five grandchildren: Matthew Kyle Winchester, Atlanta; Jennifer McClelland and her husband Max, of Austin, Texas; Andrew H Winchester, of Newport Beach, California; Trey Hardin, of Brooklyn, New York; and Lindsey Hardin, of Hattiesburg, Ms. Brother, W.D. Childers and his wife, Betty of Smyrna, Georgia. Sisters-in-law Betty Rose Hames, of Woodstock, Georgia; Sara Gray, of Smiths Grove, Kentucky; Frances Hardin of Canton, Georgia, and Susan Hardin, of College Park, Georgia. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews throughout Georgia and the Southeast.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to The Holly Springs United Methodist Church.

Visitation will be at Woodstock Funeral Home from 6:30-8:00, Thursday, June 6, 2019.

Memorial service will be at Holly Springs United Methodist Church at 11:00AM June 7, 2019.

She will lie in state from 10:00-11:00AM at the Church.