Martha G. Vaught

place she often remembered as having no electricity. She was the 3rd child in a family of six,

the 2nd daughter having passed away in infancy. Martha moved to the Mission Dam in

Peachtree, NC, when she was in 4th grade where they finally had electricity, much to her

delight. In the 7th grade the family moved to Andrews, NC, where her daddy built a grocery

store. She and her sister, Mildred, worked in the grocery store weekday afternoons and

alternated half-days on Saturday. They had a system that worked just for them: the one

in the morning cleaned house and the one in the afternoon ironed clothes. Starting out,

Roy paid them $0.50/hr, the minimum wage, and they put their earnings in “postal savings”.

Martha went oU to attend Lee College in Cleveland, TN, in 1951 at 16 years of age where she

met the love of her life, Dan Vaught. The two dated, fell in love, and planned to get married,

but Roy was not on board. He made Martha drop out of Lee University and move back to

Andrews, NC. While she may have returned home for a short while at her father’s direction,

she was working on her wedding dress the whole time.

Eventually she was able to return to her studies, this time at the University of Tennessee.

After spring semester there, she and Dan got married in June of 1954. Together, the two of

them moved to North Carolina as teachers, and she enrolled in summer classes at Western

Carolina College to finally earn the degree she had been pursuing for years. However, God’s

timing is always perfect, and Martha became pregnant with their first child, a daughter,

Tamie Vaught Esmond. While Tamie was a toddler, Martha returned to complete her degree

in Elementary Education in 1962. Then 2 years later, they were blessed with the birth of their

son, Byron Everitt Vaught.

Passionate and persistent, Martha was an exceptional teacher. Wherever Dan’s job with the

Labor Department took them, there she would teach. She taught in North Carolina, Florida,

and Georgia. She completed her Master’s in Early Childhood Education in 1982. Everywhere

she went, she found favor with students, parents, and administration alike. She was awarded

star teacher for the 1989-1990 school year at Ballard Elementary in Brunswick, GA. She

taught for a total of 22 years. Of those 22 years, the final 14 years teaching kindergarten were

her favorites.

Her love of education made its way past the classroom and into the church where she taught

Junior High Sunday school and worked with youth. She also loved to share her knowledge,

her stories, and her many skills with her 11 grandchildren. A lifelong learner as well, Martha

loved to stay busy sewing, both clothes and home furnishings, and reading.

Martha always followed the Christian faith and regularly attended church. She and Dan were

married for 62 wonderful years.