Martha McCleskey Bolton

She is survived by her son, Steve McCleskey, and his wife, Martha McCleskey; her grandson, Mark McCleskey, his wife, Anna McCleskey, and her great-granddaughter, Mary McCleskey, all of Memphis, Tennessee.

She is also survived by her sisters, Jan (J.R.) Thomas and Carolyn (Charles) Slaughter, and her brother, Jim (Linda) Overton as well as many nieces and nephews whom she loved. She is predeceased by her sister, Lillian Todd Holmes, and her brothers, Anderson Overton and Robert Overton.

Martha grew up in Fulton, Mississippi, the daughter of Rev. A. M. Overton, who was Pastor of the Fulton Baptist Church. She attended Blue Mountain College in Mississippi.

After a year at Blue Mountain College, at the age of 19, she accepted the invitation of a classmate at Blue Mountain, Jean Lovette, to move to Memphis to live with the Lovette family who were family friends and take a job at Orgill Brothers in downtown Memphis.

Martha boarded the train at Fulton, Mississippi and came to Memphis. Mr. Lovette met her at the train station downtown. They took the streetcar down Main Street and transferred to the streetcar that would take them to Highland Heights. Martha could not believe how big Memphis was as it seemed to go on and on. The streetcar reached Overton Park and she thought this must surely be the end of the city. They exited Overton Park, went through Binghampton and arrived at the stop on National Avenue in Highland Heights community and walked the three blocks to the Lovette home on Powell Avenue.

This began her life that was anchored in Highland Heights as she soon became a member of the Highland Heights Baptist Church transferring her membership from Fulton Baptist Church.

Four years later in 1949, she married Sam McCleskey at Highland Heights Baptist Church. They began a life together in that community and in that church. Highland Heights Baptist was a large and growing church located in Highland Heights but serving the growing suburban east and northeast Memphis.

Martha sang in the choir from the start at Highland Heights Baptist Church. She would be a choir member for over 60 years at the church. She and Sam both taught Sunday School and worked with the youth and Sam coached baseball teams.

They raised their son in the church and throughout their marriage continued to be actively involved in the church. Martha was a pianist trained from childhood. Throughout the years, she played the piano for numerous Sunday School departments and church functions.

Following Sam’s death, Martha was active with the senior adult activities of the church in later life. She and her second husband, George Bolton, became leaders of the senior adult ministry at Highland Heights Baptist Church. They organized meetings and programs for a large group of senior adults. They organized and led many group excursions to locations around the country.

In the last decade of her life, Martha became a member of Leawood Baptist Church. She was blessed to be a part of a wonderful Sunday School Class of senior Christian ladies there. The church and the senior adult fellowship were a great support and blessing to her.

Martha loved and enjoyed being with her family and her friends. She was a wonderful Christian mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a true Christian friend to all of her friends and all with whom she came in contact from every walk of life, race or religion over the course of her long and full life. She especially loved all of those who cared for her both in her home and at Ave Maria where she resided in the last year of her life.

Martha overcame and endured a serious heart condition at ninety-one years of age which resulted in a lengthy hospitalization in ICU, followed by a rehabilitation. She was able to return to her home, continue to plant and care for her flowers and enjoy her beautiful yard at age ninety-three.

She was also able to walk down the aisle and participate in the wedding of her grandson, Mark, and his wife, Anna. The following year, she was able to experience the arrival of a new generation of her family with the birth of her great-granddaughter, Mary McCleskey. It was her greatest joy to be able to spend time with Mary who dearly loved her “Gaw”.