Martha Bentley Ferguson

July 27, 1928 - June 25, 2016

Martha Sue Bentley (Joiner) Ferguson, a life-long resident of Shelby County, AL, passed away Saturday morning, June 25, 2016. Martha founded Cahaba Title Inc. and enjoyed her career in the title insurance industry. She was a member of Lesters Chapel United Methodist Church, Columbiana.

Martha had a happy family growing up with her father, Bruton Bentley, and her mother, Exa Hartsfield Bentley; two brothers, Waymon Bentley and Leroy Bentley; and a sister, John Ella Joseph. They lived in the Lesters Chapel community and were surrounded with a lot of cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Martha attended Chelsea School through the ninth grade. Upon graduation, she enrolled at Shelby County High School. At Chelsea, she worked in the office of Principal D. B. Smith. At Shelby High, she worked in the office of Principal Woodrow Elliott, and in college, for Raymond Fowler at the Bursar's Office. She drove the school bus her senior year at Shelby County High - in fact, she was the first female student to drive a school bus in the county, according to Elvin Hill. She was very active in the activities at the schools.

Martha was active at Lesters Chapel United Methodist Church growing up. When she married, she joined the Columbiana United Methodist Church and was active there. Upon moving from Columbiana, she came back to Lesters Chapel and has continued to be a member there to this very day.

While living in Columbiana, she married Edwin Joiner and their two children were born. Life with the family was wonderful - school, sports, and activities in which the children were involved. Columbiana is a great place to live and raise children. Family and friends there were exceptional.

Martha attended Alabama College, now University of Montevallo, when the first male students were enrolled. After college, she got a job in Columbiana with Karl Harrison, Attorney, and worked there some 31 years. She would say that those years were very informative and enjoyable. Mr. Harrison was a well-known historian, and he and Mrs. Mildred Harrison, a librarian, were inspirations in her life. It was during this time that the Harrisons became interested in establishing the George and Martha Washington Museum in Columbiana.

After Martha left the law office, a group of developers, builders, attorneys, and real estate agents approached her with the idea of starting a TITLE business in North Shelby County. That is what she did and with the backing of those gentlemen, she headed up Cahaba Title and it grew to become one of the major title companies in the area. In 2001, she sold her interest in Cahaba Title and joined her daughter, Rebecca Turner, in Pro Forma Title, where she still continued work.

Martha became involved with the Dixie Land Title Association, composed of the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. In 1996, she was honored by Dixieland as the "Title Person of the Year." In 2001, she was bestowed with an Honorary Membership in the organization.

Martha married J.D. Ferguson in 1977, and they moved to Inverness. They were active in the Inverness Golf Association and a number of sports organization. She and J.D. were Alabama fans and attended most of the football games for years. They also did a lot of traveling overseas. J.D. developed cancer and he passed away in June 1994.

Martha continued to live in Inverness and remained a member of the Golf Assocation and the Inverness Country Club. She had always liked to dance and one day she stopped in at the Fred Astaire Studio and signed up to take lessons. She enjoyed that pastime for many years and met a lot of great friends. She enjoyed going to dance parties in the Birmingham area.

Martha continued to travel with friends in Europe. The first extended trip was with Tommie Lunsford, and they went wiith a group of high school and college students, along with their instructors, on a 21-day trip to Europe - London, France, Lucerne, and Switzerland. Later, she and a group of realtors and friends began making trips to Europe every year - Spain, Rome, England, Canada, France, Sweden, Ireland, Florence, Switzerland, Greece - and the last trip was to the Baltic Sea - St. Petersville, Russia. On the way home, her heart condition, A-Fib, flared up and she had to stay in the medical facilities on the ship and her heart was shocked back into rhythm. She then decided it was time to stay close to her doctors.

Martha was quick to say her life was wonderful.

Survivors include Martha's four children, daughters Rebecca Joiner Turner (Eric) and Lynna Ferguson Poole, and sons Gregory Edwin Joiner (Valerie) and Dr. Alan Lee Ferguson (Elizabeth); grandchildren, Brett Fairley, Elizabeth Fairley Bromley (Steve), Meghann Joiner Spidle (Daniel), Randy Joiner, Stacy Turner Littleton (Wes), Emily Branch, Ryan Branch, Alan Ferguson, Dalton Ferguson Marshall (John), and Lauren Ferguson; and great-grandchildren, Jacy Littleton, Jake Littleton, Leyton Littleton, and Clay Marshall.

Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. on Monday, June 27, 2016 at Lesters Chapel United Methodist Church, Columbiana, immediately followed by the 11 a.m. celebration of Martha's life at the church. Entombment, Elmwood Mausoleum in Birmingham, AL.

In lieu of flowers, Martha requested that donations be made to Lesters Chapel United Methodist Church, 7820 Chelsea Road, Columbiana, AL 35051.