Martha Gaylard Lee

Martha—or as many came to know her Mawmaw—was born on March 21, 1921, the fourth of five children. She was raised in Montgomery, Alabama and came to Rome in the late 1940s, at the urging of her entrepreneurial husband, Ray Lee. His occupation—selling men’s and women’s shoes—brought them to town. Coincidentally, that is also how they met.

After the War, Ray was living in Montgomery, selling shoes at Al Levy’s department store. Luckily for Ray, that is also where Martha shopped. Soon after his arrival in Montgomery, she was smitten—always in the store buying more shoes or asking for a “better fit,” just so she could see Ray again. One day, as the store was closing, Ray—finally realizing her interest—asked if he could give her a ride home from the store, she promptly accepted; it was the first of many car rides that Martha would share with Ray, or, as her mother first called him, “that short little man.” Martha and Ray married in 1948, moved to Rome in 1949, and soon found a church home at Second Avenue Baptist Church that would span the next 60-plus years where she served as a first and second grade Sunday School teacher for over 30 years. She sang in the Joyful Singers choir and was a member of the Joy Sunday School class.

Martha was blessed with three devoted daughters, Janice, Marsha, and Teresa—only to lose her youngest, Teresa, in a tragic car accident in 1982. While never outspoken, Mawmaw was always the rock of her family, which soon grew to include four grandchildren, Matthew, Lee, Mark, and Blair.

In 2003, at the age of 82, Martha entered a new chapter of her life—one without the “short little man.” All were concerned how she would handle this new chapter without Ray, but Martha displayed great strength and independence. If anything, a “new” Mawmaw arrived—a “bootiful” quick-witted, hilarious Southern lady not afraid to speak her mind. She became the life of all family gatherings. Over the next ten years, she would explore the world with Janice and Marsha on their annual “girls’ trips,” which took them to Alaska, the Greek Islands, Italy, the Grand Canyon and more. She was always asking, “Where are we going next?” To the end, Mawmaw was always a very wise woman who displayed a special sense of understanding, acceptance, and fairness, not always found in people of her generation.

Martha is survived by her daughters, Janice Lee Carter and Marsha Lee Spota, their husbands Paul Carter and Joe Spota, her grandchildren Matthew Spota, Lee Carter and his wife Cassidy, Mark Spota, Blair Carter and his wife Heather, her precious cat Suzie-Q, her special friend and confidant Genell Heard, and her church family at Second Avenue.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James Wesley and Bobbie Ruth Gaylard; siblings, Winfield Brennan, Sara Goldblatt, Jimmy Gaylard, and Bobbie Ann Gaylard; her husband, Ray and daughter, Teresa Lee.

The family received friends on Sunday, April 6 from 6-8pm at Daniel’s Funeral Home, and a service was held at Second Avenue Baptist Church, Rome, on Monday, April 7 at 3:00pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Second Avenue Baptist Church.