MARTHA ESTELLE BETHEA COLLINS died at White Plains Hospital Medical Center on January 4, 2017. The daughter of the late James William Bethea and Alice Estella Watson, Martha was born March 23, 1924 in Latta, South Carolina. She had been a resident of the White Plains/Greenburgh area for over 85 years. The family moved to New York when she was seven years of age and enrolled her at children at Rochambeau Elementary School in White Plains. She joined the Second Methodist Church of White Plains (presently Trinity United Methodist Church) and enrolled in Sunday School, children’s choir and later, the jr. choir and jr. usher board.
Martha was also active in the Greenburgh Community and directed the Summer Recreation Program held at the Richard J. Bailey School in Greenburgh. Her mother was one of the founders and a charter member of the Fairview Recreation Committee which became the Greenburgh Recreation Commission which laid the foundation for the stellar Fairview/Greenburgh Theodore D. Young Community Center.
Martha attended Winston-Salem Teachers College which is now Winston- Salem University where she received her B.A. degree in Education; minor English. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, a member of Sigma Kappa Delta Club and the Charm Club.
Martha is predeceased by her husband, Herbert Collins, three brothers and four sisters. Nesbert (Slim) Frazier Bethea, George Herbert Bethea, John Henry Bethea; Mami Alethia Bethea, Rosalie Bethea Cooley, Montez Bethea Morrow, and her twin sister, Mary Bethea Oliver. She is survived by four cousins: Classie Mae Watson, Nathaniel Lewis, Dorethea Lewis Griffen, and another set of twins, Herman Lewis, and Hermanise Lewis Stevenson. Several nieces and nephews, Grand, Great and Great-Great Grand nieces and nephews; and she leaves to mourn her, Patricia L. Weems her beloved niece who will truly miss her quiet, loving spirit.
When I have gone the last mile of the way,
I will rest at the close of the day,
And I know there are joys that await me,
When I’ve gone, the last mile of the way.
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