Martha M. Swearingen

Martha grew up in Laurinburg, NC. Her parents were James McKinnon and Martha Murray McKinnon and her younger sister is Ann (McKinnon) Kitzmiller. Martha was very musical (piano, guitar, singing) and a voracious reader. She went to Agnes Scott for college (1963 graduate) and then went to Stanford where she earned a MS English degree in 1965.

Martha married Daniel Swearingen on September 5, 1964. From 1965 to 1967, she was an “Army wife”. After Dan’s service was completed the young couple moved to Raleigh, NC where Martha gave birth to their first child, Ann, on December 1, 1967. On October 29, 1969 she gave birth to their second daughter, Kirsten. In 1970, Dan took a job at COMSAT and the family relocated to Arlington, VA. In 1980, Martha published a novel If Anything. From 1980 to 1981 the family lived in the UK, where Dan worked for Inmarsat.

In the mid-1980s, Martha taught at Fairlington Methodist Preschool while pursuing her passions for quilting, needlework, and art. In the early 1990s she took a job as a church administrator at Trinity Presbyterian Church, and continued to develop her gifts for quilting, artwork, and poetry. In 1998 she converted from Presbyterian to Episcopalian and joined Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria. Martha was active in her church, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday forums, and serving in the healing ministry. She also stayed connected with a group of lifelong friends at Trinity.

Martha retired from her job as St. John’s Episcopal Church administrator in 2002. In retirement, she and Dan went on two cruises to Alaska, and made several visits to their West Coast daughters. Ann lives in Seattle and was married in 2011. Kirsten moved back to Fairfax in 2012 with grandchildren, Ella and Barrett. Martha faced numerous health challenges in recent years, but her feisty, optimistic spirit carried her through. She continued to write and create original and vibrant art, including mixed media collages, altered books, and dioramas. Martha loved her friends and family, and was deeply loved in return. She will be missed.