Obituary of Martha K. Davis
It is with sadness that the family of Martha Kirkland Davis announces her passing after a long and wonderful life, on Friday, November 30, 2018, at the age of 101 years. Martha was born on September 13, 1917 to Alexander and Minnie Devine Kirkland in Rose Hill, Kentucky. She was the middle sister in the family, and became wise beyond her years after her mother passed away in 1930.
For nearly fifty years, Martha lived on Beaumont Avenue in Harrodsburg. A member of the greatest generation, Martha’s husband and brothers all served in WWII, and Martha gave birth to twin daughters in Denver, Colorado, during the war. In 1945, Martha and Hugh returned to Richmond, Kentucky to raise their girls.
In the 1950s, Martha became an entrepreneur. She opened the Davis Beauty Salon in Richmond in 1956 and then moved her business to Harrodsburg in 1969. Over the years, she employed dozens of stylists. A stylist through the days of the Bouffant, poodle cut, beehive, bob, and pixies, Martha was always in the know. Three chairs, four dryers, and more tales than the weekly Herald could ever hold. Marriages, broken hearts, new babies, deaths, Kentucky basketball, illnesses, through good times and bad, Martha’s shop served both to beautify and counsel. There are more than a few families in Mercer County that hang pictures of mothers and grandmothers looking sharp because of the work done in Martha’s shop.
Martha had a wonderful social life that centered around her love of bridge. Several times a week, her bridge club gathered for lunch and afternoon games. She and her friends would often be at the Stone Manor Restaurant. In the winters, she traveled with her bridge club to Naples, Florida. Martha never remarried after her husband passed away in 1971.
Martha will be lovingly remembered by her twin daughters, Donna Coffey and Diane Simms (her husband Michael Simms), her grandchildren, Martha Elizabeth Wilson (her husband Joel Wilson), Diana Frucci (her husband Jason Frucci), and Kirk Ogrosky (his wife Holly Barker), and her great-grandchildren: Jack Wilson, Ashley Wilson, Cade Frucci, Robert Frucci, Collin Frucci, Beck Ogrosky, and Margo Ogrosky. Only a centenarian would be predeceased by nearly all of her closest family and immediate friend including her husband, Hugh Leonard Davis, her brothers, Thomas Kirkland (his wife Ruby Kirkland) and Robert Kirkland, and her sisters, Elise Freeman (her husband Edwin Freeman) and Flossie Carpenter (her husband Frank Carpenter).
Martha was a life long member of the Harrodsburg United Methodist Church and believed that goodness, honesty, and kindness to our fellow man would lead to heaven. A funeral service for Martha will be held on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 12:00 Noon with visitation beginning at 11:00 AM, at the Ransdell Funeral Chapel, 345 E. Lexington Street, Harrodsburg, by Allen Gibson. Martha will then be interred beside her husband, Hugh, in the Spring Hill Cemetery. Those who so desire, may make a memorial donation to Heritage Hospice, 120 Enterprise Drive, Danville, KY 40422, or to the Harrodsburg United Methodist Church, 128 S. Chiles St., Harrodsburg, KY 40330..