Martha Jane Jenkins

Martha Jane Jenkins lived a life of quiet grace with purpose in every role she took on. Born in 1918, she lived through a multitude of transitions and accomplished all the roles in her life as daughter, student, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, without a lot of fuss.

She was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and studied at Ohio State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology. She met her husband of sixty-three years, Dr. James H. Jenkins, at Ohio State where they were both students and avid members of the bird watching club. They married and moved first to Waycross in 1948 and then to Athens Georgia in 1949 where Martha Jane worked as a laboratory technician at the University of Georgia Entomology Department and Jim was a professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Georgia School of Forestry. When Dr. Jenkins had the opportunity to become a visiting professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, Martha Jane packed up the family and moved to Pretoria where they lived for almost a year. While there, due to Jim’s work as a wildlife professional and inventor of the tranquilizer gun, they had the great fortune of touring many wildlife preserves and fulfilling their shared passion for observing wildlife. Always an ardent lover of birds and all nature, Martha Jane became an accomplished watercolor artist. Through her paintings she observed and delighted in all that the natural world offered.

She raised three independent children Mike, Molly and Trudy and became “grandma” to all as their children were born. She instilled in her children and grandchildren a great respect and love for all things natural, the importance of protecting our natural environment and a social conscience. She loved travel, as long as it involved seeing natural beauty and especially birds. Many road trips (filled with singing in the car) were interrupted by pulling off the road (for what seemed like hours to the kids) to whip out the binoculars and view birds. She encouraged and supported her children and grandchildren (all girls) in the attainment of education and career, believing that “it’s essential that every woman have a way to support herself.”

She cared for Jim through his last days and again, without much fuss, made another life without him with nature, art, friends and family.

Always the adventurer, Martha Jane moved to Costa Rica the day after she turned 100 and spent her last 6 months there in a circle of loving family, exotic birds and mountainous jungle in the home of Trudy and her husband Eli. Every afternoon save a few she could be found sitting on the deck watching hummingbirds and beautiful sunsets. One of her last statements was “I can’t believe how beautiful it is”.

Martha Jane died as she lived, in oneness with her values and with a peace that comforts those who miss and remember her.

Martha Jane is survived by her 3 children, Mike, Molly and Trudy; Mike’s wife Linda and granddaughter Maddie Jane; Trudy’s husband Eli Budd, grandchildren Alethea, Johanna, Amy and Pratima; Alethea’s husband Abe Ballard and great-grandchildren Eli and Lucia; Johanna’s husband Sean Wessling; Amy’s husband Jake Francis; God-granddaughter Charlotte Fahy Stack.

Services will be held at Bernstein’s Funeral Home on Saturday, October 13 with a wake from

1-3 p.m. followed by graveside service at Evergreen Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to either of the following organizations which she supported for many decades: Planned Parenthood at weareplannedparenthoodaction.org or the World Wildlife Fund at supportworldwildlife.org.