Thursday, June 16, 2005

ROCKWOOD DEDICATES MARTHA’S FOUNTAIN

ROCKWOOD - “It seems like only yesterday a slender teenaged girl walked in front of me as we went to see the cowboy movies on Saturdays down at the theater in Rockwood. You remember the theater - where the Rite-Aid Store is now. She had short, curly hair and wore a pair of white shorts with the names of all the neighborhood kids on it.  She had embroidered their names by hand on the shorts. For a short time there was an Army Surplus store down on Front Street.  This same girl went there and purchased a pair of Army fatigue pants and wore them – she was the first one to wear them in town, and it became a trend.  She was like that, very much one to walk to the beat of her own drum.  She was my twin sister, and we frequently went down to the Live and Let Live Drugstore to buy ice cream, or we went to the beach in Rockwood and swam,”recalls Mary Kau, sister of the late Martha Alexander Anderson Stovall. 

    On June 25th, 2005 at 2:00 pm the new fountain in Rockwood’s Homecoming Park will be dedicated in memory of Martha Alexander Anderson Stovall. Maurice Grief will be master of ceremonies, the Babahatchie band will provide music, and Dudley Evans is scheduled to sing. The event is being catered by Ivans Restaurant of Rockwood.  Speakers include family members, Rockwood Mayor Mike Miller, Rockwood 2000 President Judy Wassom, and Reverend Charles Mattson, Rockwood United Methodist Church. The fountain has been donated to the City of Rockwood by the family of the late Martha Alexander Anderson Stovall, and the public is invited to celebrate her life as the fountain is dedicated. 

Judy Wassom from Rockwood 2000 added that the original plan for the Homecoming Park in the town center called for the creation of a fountain.  “We had always planned on the addition of a fountain, but we hadn’t gotten that far.  When Mary Kau called me and mentioned doing something for her sister, we started talking about a fountain as a way to memorialize Martha.  Thanks to their family’s generosity, we now have a beautiful centerpiece that all can enjoy in the park.”

    Martha was born June 13,1938 at Chamberlain Memorial Hospital in Rockwood to parents Earl & Verne Alexander. Arriving with Martha was twin sister Mary. Martha and Mary have two other siblings, Frances and David. The family lived on South Douglas Street and Martha attended Rockwood schools through the twelfth grade. She was a member of the Kingston Avenue Methodist Church and an active member in the Methodist Youth Fellowship.

    Martha was active in the Rainbow Girls, and attended Grand Assembly the summer of 1954 in Memphis, TN. An excellent swimmer, Martha passed the Red Cross Life- saving Course. She was also a talented basketball player and was on a team in grades 7-12. In high school, her jersey number was 32.Martha was a cheerleader for all 4 years in High School. She also served on the Student Council, and attended the State Assembly in Nashville where she stayed in the home of Pat Boone’s parents. She was voted“Most Popular Girl”,“Best-All-Around”,and “Best School Spirited” of her Senior Class.

    After graduating from high school, Martha attended a business school in Chattanooga. She got a job as a secretary in 1957, and met her future husband, Herbert K. Anderson. They married at Carmel, Indiana, April 25, 1958. Together they had 3 daughters: Anita, Lisa, and Jennifer, and moved to California in 1965. Sadly, Jennifer was killed in an automobile accident (at age 16) in 1979.

    After her husband (Herb) died, Martha married Chuck Stovall in 1986, and the two of them moved to Arizona in 1995, where they were living at the time of Martha’s death on April 12th, 2004.

    During her adult years, Martha was an active member of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary, and after moving to Arizona, joined the Women’s Auxiliary of the V.F.W. The V.F.W. had a memorial service for her in April 2004 after her death.

    Surviving family members include husband Charles (Chuck) Stovall and two daughters; daughter Anita Anderson Merryman and husband Ron, who have two sons, Alexander and Nicholas; daughter Lisa Anderson and son Noah. One brother, David Alexander and his wife Diana, and two sisters, Mary Kau and husband Donald with their son Jason, and sister Frances and husband John. Frances and John have two sons Phil and Randy. Phil and wife Deby have three children, Jason, Josh and wife Charlette with two children Ashley and Kaden, Melissa and son Conner. Son Randy and wife Teresa have three sons Aaron, Kyle and Spencer.

    In her will, Martha requested her ashes be scattered in Rockwood. The family will scatter Martha's ashes at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 25^th in a public cemetery where Martha and Mary used to play as children.  They will join the public at 2:00 pm for the dedication celebration in the downtown Homecoming Park.