Martha Ellen Smith

It is with great sadness that the family of Martha Ellen Smith announces her passing, on Friday, December 14, 2018, at the age of 89.

Martha was born on June 19, 1929 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Robert and Ellen Allen. In 1952, Martha met and married Haviland Smith of New York and New Jersey. They spent the next two decades raising three boys while living abroad in England, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Lebanon and Iran, then moving back to their home in McLean, Virginia. In 1979 she returned to her home town of Charlotte, where she met her longtime companion John Davenport. In Charlotte, they spent many happy nights dancing together at Liz's, where a live duo performed songs by the Captain and Tenille, one of her favorite acts. They eventually moved to Sun City in Bluffton, South Carolina, where she remained for the rest of her life.

Always active and quite competitive, Martha played singles and doubles tennis, for fun and in local tournaments, winning women's doubles championships. She continued to play tennis into her early eighties. She was very social and loved getting together for card games with dear friends and neighbors in Sun City. Her friends and family remember her winning smile, her fun-loving and compassionate nature.

Martha is survived by her companion of 33 years, John Davenport, by her sons, Gordon and Brook, by her daughter-in-law Wendy Malais, by her four grandchildren, Haviland IV (Danielle), Taylor, Jordan, and Blake (Julie), by her two great-grandchildren, Scarlett and Eliana, and by her brothers Robert Jr. and Perry Allen. Martha was predeceased by her son Haviland III and by her sister Virginia Miller.

There will be a memorial service for Martha on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 2:00 P.M., at Grace Coastal Presbyterian Church, 15 Williams Drive, Okatie, SC 29909. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Martha’s memory to Shriner’s Hospital for Children, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, or Grace Coastal Church.