Martha Francis Townley, 65, retired athletic supervisor for the City of Florence Parks and Recreation Department, died Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015.
A service to celebrate her life will be Wednesday at noon at Elkins East Chapel Funeral Home with Brother Danny Pettus officiating. A time of visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until service time. Burial will follow in the Civitan Cemetery in Rogersville.
Martha was a member of the church of Christ, was a 1968 graduate of Lexington High School, and attended the University of North Alabama.
In her 30 years with the City of Florence Parks and Recreation Department, she started the first soccer program in Florence, and she served in many Southeastern Athletic Association Union (SEAAU) offices including governor for 14 years and soccer chairman 23 years. In the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), she served on the Executive Board, as National Soccer Chairman, co-chair of the Governor’s Council, and site committee for Junior Olympic Games, and several other committees.
In 1987, Martha was chosen the National AAU Parks and Recreation Woman of the Year. The following year she was given the Presidential Leadership Award and in 1991 the Outstanding Service Award by AAU Soccer. In 2002, she was inducted into the National AAU Hall of Fame. In 2007, she was awarded the prestigious Jane Puckett Leadership Award.
Martha was very interested in genealogy and had compiled several books of family history.
She is survived by a brother, Richard W. Townley, of Lexington; nephews, Christopher Howard, of Lexington, and Joshua Howard, of Tennessee; and a cousin, Janice Butler (Lynn), of Lexington.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Merritt and Clayton Chandler Townley, and a sister, Rebecca Ann Howard.
Pallbearers will be Howard Cumming, Darrell Lauderdale, Bob Boswell, Al Cate, Doug Griffin, Fred Boughner, and Lance Uhlman. Jody Terrell will serve as an honorary pallbearer.
The family offers special thanks to Dr. Robert Webb and Hospice of the Shoals and El Reposo Nursing Facility.
Steve Chenault and Elkins East Chapel are assisting the family.
