Martha Lancaster Byrd, 90, died peacefully in her sleep October 1, 2022.
Martha was born June 10, 1932, to Dr. and Mrs. H. H. Lancaster. She spent her early childhood in Dahlonega, where the family lived on the ground floor of her father’s clinic, then moved to New Holland and attended Gainesville City Schools. She met Walter, her future husband, while she was a cheerleader and he played quarterback for the Gainesville Red Elephants. In 1953 she graduated from Georgia State College for Women, where she majored in Retailing and performed with the college’s modern dance company. She and Walter married the same year, and, after a brief residence in El Paso, Texas, they returned to Gainesville to raise their family. In 1963, she opened a private kindergarten named Candy Cane. She had five students, including her younger daughter; along with academics, they were taught dance by her sister, Mary Dobbs, and music by a neighbor who played the piano. Tuition was $16 a month. During the next few years, while expanding her pre-school, Martha attended graduate school at UGA and earned a Masters in Early Childhood Education. Eventually, Candy Cane’s enrollment was around a hundred students, and it was recognized statewide as an outstanding pre-school program. Serving as President of the Georgia Preschool Association, Martha began to advocate for adding kindergarten to the public school system, and she worked with legislators to design that curriculum. When it was adopted, she closed Candy Cane to join the faculty at Enota Elementary, where she taught for another decade. In 1989, when she retired to become a full-time grandmother, she was named a Gracious Lady of Georgia and recognized for her volunteer work (with Gainesville Arborists, Girl Scouts, Meals on Wheels, and the First Baptist Church), as well as for her career in education.
She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Walter (91); her sister, Mary Dobbs (92); her three children, Sandy Brim (Jim), Lelan Byrd (Emily), and Tania Martin (Don); her seven grandchildren, Katy Brim and Natalie Pemberton (Dan), Clint Byrd (Ashleigh), Clay Byrd (Sarah), Sarah Thiriez (Matt), Alayna Wells (John), and Chase Pirkle (Jessica); and her ten great-grandchildren, Preston and Sammy Byrd, Leighton, Alice, and Jack Wells, Etta and Emeline Byrd, Lucy and Matt Thiriez, and Mattie Grace Pirkle.
A celebration of her life will be held at Memorial Park Chapel Sunday, October 9, 2022, at 2 pm.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Miss Martha Fund at Ability Pediatric Therapy, a clinic that provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy to children with special needs (by mail to Ability Pediatric Therapy, 130 Main Street, Clermont, Georgia, 30527, or by phone at 678-616-3099, earmarked Miss Martha Fund).
Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel 989 Riverside Drive Gainesville, Georgia is in charge of arrangements. For online condolences www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com
For viewing on livestream https://www.facebook.com/MemRiversideNorth
