Martha B. Orth

Martha Camille Beggs Orth of Falls Church died February 27, 2021 at the age of 90. “Marty” passed away peacefully under hospice care. Martha was born September 23, 1930 and raised in Memphis, TN. She attended Southwestern College there (now Rhodes College), the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA and obtained an MA from the University of Oklahoma. In 1951, in a student exchange program, she worked in London in a Presbyterian Settlement House in the badly bombed East End. In 1953 she was a delegate from the Southern Presbyterian Church to the World Council of Churches meeting in Evanston, IL. She served as Director of Education in Second Presbyterian Church, Little Rock AK; Grace Covenant Church, Richmond, VA; and Riverside Church in Jacksonville, FL. She has been a teacher, Elder and Trustee in the Presbyterian Church. She moved to the Washington area in 1965 where she resided in Arlington for 30 years and in Fairfax County since 1997. She was employed at the FDIC and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as an Employee Development Specialist. She was a past president of the Arlington Historical Society; Trustee of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Northern Neck Branch; member of the Society of Woman Geographers; Docent at Tudor Place and at the Octagon; and charter member of the Women's Art Museum, Washington, DC. She was instrumental in the preservation and restoration of two 18th century houses: the Ball-Sellers House in Arlington, VA and Linden Farm in Farnham, VA. She wrote numerous articles in historic journals, and published two books: The House That John Built, and The People of Linden. Her document on the history of North Farnham Episcopal Church was placed in the cornerstone of the Parish House. She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald J. Orth; her parents, George and Celeste Beggs; two sisters, Mary George Beggs of Memphis, TN, and Lilly Anne Rein of Decatur, GA; two stepdaughters, LaDonna O’Loughlin and Mary Ellen Kent; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She is survived by five grandchildren; numerous great and great-great grandchildren; a niece and nephew, Anne and Tim Rein of Marietta, GA; and a cousin, Jane Little, of Memphis, TN. Interment will follow a private graveside service at North Farnham Episcopal Church, Farnham, VA, with a memorial service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to First Presbyterian Church of Arlington or North Farnham Episcopal Church.