Martha Agnes Little

MARTHA AGNES LITTLE SCHAEFFER, of Memphis, 82, passed away on February 2, 2012, after a long illness. She was preceded in death by her father, Hill Fontaine Little, and mother, Madge Sue Newton Little, her former husband, James F. “Tim” Schaeffer, and sister, Linda Hadley (Jay), of Orlando, Florida. She is survived by her children, James F. Schaeffer, Jr., of Memphis, Amy Schaeffer McQueen (Van) of Shelbyville, Indiana, Jeri Schaeffer Killett (Tim), of Memphis, her sister, Patricia Chase (Raymond), of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and grandchildren, Amanda Hill (Matt), of Chicago, and Peyton McQueen, of Shelbyville, Indiana.

Martha was graduated from Memphis Tech High School, and, thereafter, attended Texas State Women’s College and the University of Memphis, where she was a cheerleader.

In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, Martha was an avid reader, prolific writer, community volunteer, and world traveler. She served three terms as president of the Friends of the Memphis Public Library, and as such helped organize the annual Book and Author Dinner, honoring numerous, well known authors and writers. She also hosted various radio and television shows on behalf of the library, including a children’s radio show, and WYPL-TV’s “Little Conversations”, which featured many authors, including one of her favorites, former First Lady, Rosalyn Carter. She helped in securing initial federal funding for the library’s LINC program. For several years she wrote an opinion column for the Collierville Herald newspaper. Her friends and family certainly acknowledge that Martha had many opinions and expressed them without hesitation. As a political activist she was involved in several Democratic campaigns, marched for Civil Rights before it was socially acceptable, and organized a local Citizens’ Committee calling for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. During that same period of time she was named one of the ten most beautiful women of Memphis by the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church.

In her many travels and adventures she alighted on every continent, but her favorite destinations were trips to Africa, where she sailed the Nile and explored the Pyramids, and to Antarctica, where she followed in the footsteps of Amundsen and Scott. Along the way she became an excellent photographer and loved lecturing to many groups about her travels.

The family requests that any charitable donations made in her memory be to the Memphis Public Library, Crossroads Hospice, or the charity of one’s choice.