Martha Floyd Bevil Buchanan, age 100, died April 9, 2015, at her home in Silsbee, Texas. Born June 5, 1914, in Kountze Texas, she was the oldest child of Judge Andrew Leak Bevil and Vida Margaret Singleton Bevil. Named for her paternal grandmother, Martha Hart Bevil and her maternal grandfather, Judge Daniel Floyd Singleton, she was a direct descendant of early Texas settlers, including John Bevil, founder of Jasper County.
Predeceased by her parents, her husband longtime Silsbee lawyer Terrell Buchanan, her brother A.L. Bevil Jr., and her sister Vida Bevil Blair, she is survived by her children Bevil Wright (Russell), Ellen Buchanan, and John Leake Buchanan(Melinda), her beloved grandchildren Terrell Wright (Kim), Blair Wright Canfield (Will), Adrian Wright Stevens (Jordan), Russell Buchanan Wright, Aubrey Buchanan (Lezlie) and Sam Buchanan, and her great grandchildren ,Ella Claire Wright, Webb Russell Wright, Reese Adrian Canfield, William Wright Canfield , Andrew Krc Canfield, Gavin Zayne Buchanan and Kynzlee Ann Martha Buchanan and beloved feline companions Demon, Blackie, and Little Girl.
Martha grew up surrounded by the large and loving extended Bevil and Singleton families. Even at a very young age her angelic face and beautiful blue eyes were coupled with a strong will which both amused and confounded her doting parents. Always scrupulously honest, she was careful to inform her mother that in spite of the spanking she had just received she would indeed repeat the behavior for which she had just been punished. In her late 80’s this strong will helped her regain mobility after extensive back surgery to the amazement of her doctors. Her faith was strongly influenced by her special relationship with her grandmother Martha Bevil who with her husband John were founders of the Kountze Church of Christ. Her sister, ten years younger, recalled that as a small child she thought Martha was the best person she knew because she read her Bible every night. Although she later reconsidered this opinion because of Martha’s vigilant protection of her perfectly arranged bridge party refreshments and her own banishment during these momentous occasions, she still felt Martha was as beautiful inside as she was out and they remained devoted to one another.
Martha graduated in 1930 at age 15 as salutatorian of Kountze High School. She attended the University of Texas for a year but was so homesick she returned to Kountze where she taught high school. Her experience teaching boys older than she soon motivated her to return to the University from which she graduated in 1936 . While at the University she made lifelong friends of her Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters. She and Eunice Lewis drove Eunice’s convertible to Alpha Delta Pi events throughout the United States and Canada. Judge Bevil, concerned for the girls’ safety, taught them to shoot and arranged for them to be sworn in as special Hardin County Deputies so they could carry a gun. Blessed with a lovely voice, Martha’s secret ambition was to be a big band singer. Nowhere is this more evident than in her scrap books from trips to New York City with her aunt, Maud Black, during the height of the Big Band era. During World War II, Martha served as a civilian secretary to the military in Hondo Texas. Returning to live in Kountze after the war, she married Terrell Buchanan, a dashing war veteran and lawyer from Saratoga Texas on March 9, 1949 and they settled in Silsbee. Having married and started her family relatively late in life, Martha was dedicated to creating special childhoods for her children. She taught them Bible stories, the constellations and that “pretty is as pretty does”, and reared them with equal applications of homemade ice cream, pecan waffles with heated syrup, and peach tree switches. She tried valiantly to instill good table manners and scrupulous observation of the rules of grammar. Dinner was always ready when they came home from school. She understood that no meal was complete without dessert and made the best pecan, lemon and sweet potato pies and Miley Cariker’s famous chocolate cake. Long after her children reached middle age she still prepared their favorite foods for their birthdays. Not only her children, but also her nieces and nephews were the beneficiaries of the special “Aunt Martha” touch. Whether it was baking a favorite pie for a nephew or bringing a little niece a bouquet of the child’s favorite Cecile Brunner roses, she made holidays and birthdays special and carefully documented them by much picture taking. She continued this tradition with her grandchildren.
Because she loved us, she told us to hold our shoulders up and that if we did not stay out of the sun between 10a.m. and 2p.m. we would be wrinkled and remorseful at 40. She was right. Because we loved her, we watched Lawrence Welk, As the World Turns, and The Wheel of Fortune with her.
Martha was intellectually curious until the end of her life. She stayed well informed about politics and sports, loved babies, cats, hummingbirds, the color pink, the wonders of nature, the King James Version of the Bible, pretty shoes, Eddie Duchin, Pringle’s potato chips, whale watching, meteor showers, chocolate candy, traveling whether to Australia, Alaska , Hawaii or Jazz Fest, dessert which she always ate first, and playing bridge. The only known instance of Martha ever using even mild profanity had to do with a hand of cards. She always drove too fast though she would never admit it. She hated housework, but loved to work in her yard which she did tirelessly, always with her “face fixed”. Even after her sight failed she could miraculously spot a weed or an offending pile of grass clippings. Her sweet peas are legendary and her azaleas put on one last glorious display for her this week.
A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 13, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Beaumont. A reception will follow at a location to be announced at the service.
Her family extends their appreciation to Tony Fitzgerald; her faithful friends and gardeners of many years Susan McDonald and Oscar Scarborough; her devoted caregivers Patricia Fritz, Mildred Cox, Janie Dancer and Sofia Torres; and her helpers and friends Tina Hutto, Debbie Jones and Kathy Briggs. We are especially grateful to Dr. George Thomas and his nurses DeDe and Catina for taking such good care of her over the years and to the staff of Texas Total Care Home Health Care and Hospice, nurses Jamie Gill and Elaine Stephen.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Arms of Hope (formerly Boles Children’s Home and Medina Children’s home) 21300 State Hwy. 16 North, Medina, TX. 78055.
