Martha Evelyn Pullin Morehead

Born in 1929 in the remote mountains of Nebaj, Guatemala, Martha Evelyn Pullin Morehead was the third daughter of missionaries Thomas and Flora Pullin when only horseback or strong legs could bring you there. Early memories were of the chilly mornings in the town square, brightly dressed Indians, dogs and horses in the streets, festival parades, and bullfights where young men died in the ring near the family home. As a toddler, she was picked up daily by the mayor’s maid to have coffee with him in his office which began a lifelong routine of daily coffee drinking and conversation with family and friends.

Her parents were from Pennsylvania, of English and German descent. During her fourth year her father suffered a lengthy illness and almost died, a sickness that required a return to the U.S., where, after recovering, he served church families of the Central Pennsylvania coal fields. In a pattern that would be repeated, her parents returned to Guatemala where, at age seven, she began boarding school in Huehuetenango. She longed for weekends with family, but her parents’ work required sacrifice. Another four years passed, and the family returned to Pennsylvania during the outbreak of World War II. Young Martha recalled miners’ sons who left home, some of whom were represented by Gold Stars in the windows, and the sorrow she felt through her father’s pastoral visits. Cold winters were endured through congregational gifts; indeed, the family was wealthy in faith and love, but little else.

Martha’s parents returned to Guatemala in 1942, and with her sister Alice, she attended boarding school for missionary children in South Carolina, a place remembered for morning work in the Victory Garden, discipline, secondhand clothes, separation of siblings, cabbage at mealtime, and Sunday-afternoon letter-writing to parents. Two moves later, she finished high school. During these years, her parents continued their work in the mountains and corresponded by letter. There was one furlough, a golden summer in rural Pennsylvania, where they lived together on a church campground. An unexpected scholarship enabled her to attend Emory University Nursing School where she earned a Bachelor of Nursing degree in 1953. In 1956 she won a highly competitive fellowship at Emory earning a Master of Nursing degree the following year. From 1958-1960, she served in the United States Army Nursing Corp as a Lieutenant while also teaching nursing at Emory.

Martha married Richard Lee Morehead in 1955, a marriage that lasted over 70 years. In 1960 she moved to Miami, Florida, where her first child, a son, Richard Scott Morehead, was born in 1962. That birth nearly cost all, as she had a postpartum subarachnoid hemorrhage. Despite being given almost no chance of a normal neurological recovery, the Lord miraculously healed her. She gave birth to her daughter, Martha Shawn Morehead, three years later.

Her professional career included a long nursing and teaching career at several South Florida institutions: the University of Miami, South Dade High School, and Robert Morgan Technical College. She was also recruited as the first Director of Nursing at Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee, achieving an all-but-dissertation doctoral degree from Nova Southeastern University. She was honored by Emory University with a lifetime achievement award, outliving all her nursing school classmates.

Martha Evelyn Pullin Morehead was a loving wife and mother, a fiercely loyal friend and advocate, and a committed Christian. She set great store by academic achievement and extravagant celebrations of family accomplishments, but despite being an accomplished clinician and educator, she rarely spoke of herself. Nursing school friends, family, and past students got an occasional mention, but overall, she was much more concerned with her children’s grades and table manners than her own achievements. After moving to Miami, teaching at the University of Miami and influenced by Shawn’s UM alum status, she became a lifetime Miami Hurricanes fan, attending many games (including the 2001 National Championship Rose Bowl game) and faithfully watching all the others. She encouraged, supported, and attended all her children’s sports, academic, and musical endeavors.

Her other immense value was work; she was ultimately forced into retirement in her 70s. Though Martha grew older, she never lost her stylish taste for clothes, lavish gift-giving, extraordinary culinary skill, and insistence on proper use of the King’s English. She remained her family’s standard of excellence in all ways by her committed faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, her fierce and enduring love for her family (natural, adopted, and grafted in), her amazing academic and teaching prowess, and her unwavering support and encouragement of her children, grandchildren and students. To those of us who knew her intimately, loved her and were loved by her, drank coffee, laughed and experienced life with her, she really had no equal. We will miss her beyond measure. Maranatha!

Martha was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Thomas and Flora Waterman Pullin; sisters, Dorothy Pullin Carroll (Rev. Luther Carroll), and Alice Kathryn Pullin.

She is survived by her husband, Richard Lee Morehead; children, Martha Shawn Morehead MD, and Richard Scott Morehead MD (Tammy); grandchildren, Elena, Tomas, and William “Will”; and great grandchildren, Hazel Evelyn, her namesake.

A funeral service will be held at 3:00 pm on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at City Church in Rainbow City, Alabama. The family will accept friends from 1:00 pm until the hour of the service at the church. Pastor Doug Baker will officiate. She will be laid to rest at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida. Collier-Butler Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Pallbearers will be R. Scott Morehead, Tomas Morehead, Will Morehead, Larry Wayne Morehead II, Matthew Mundy, and Ryan Mundy.

Honorary pallbearers will be Robert Reed, Larry W. Morehead.

The family wishes to express special thanks to friends, Cathie Scarbrough MD, Rebecca Hairelson, Robert and Sherin Reed, and Leslie Johnson Malone ( Proverbs 18:24).