Martha Frances (Knott) Fowlkes
July 13, 1931 ~ June 12, 2025 (age 93)
Martha Frances Knott Fowlkes of Caruthersville almost reached her 94th birthday. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on June 12 in the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
Martha was born on July 13, 1931 to Leslie Walter and Myrtle Lee (Edney) Knott on a farm in Pemiscot County, Missouri. The family moved to their home on East 11th Street in Caruthersville when she was two years old. There she grew up with her parents and her younger brother and sister. She recently shared with us many memories of life during the Great Depression. The world was a gentler place and at the age of 5 she walked alone from her house to kindergarten at the Baptist church. As a little girl, she loved riding her bicycle to the library. Because of her tiny stature, she would have to back away from the counter at the grocery store in order to be seen. Martha was industrious all her long life, beginning as a receptionist for Dr. Luten when she was only in the eighth grade.
During her Caruthersville High School years she was a member of the pep club and played saxophone in the band. She loved going to the movies at the Gem, the Stadium, or the Rogers theater. Teen Town, upstairs over the Shade Slentz car dealership, provided a place to dance to music from a jukebox, play cards and ping-pong. In her senior year she was elected Homecoming Queen. She continued to stay in close touch with her remaining classmates.
After graduating in 1949, Martha boldly set out for Stephens College in Columbia, MO. Not long after arriving, she met the love of her life, John Ray Fowlkes, a law student from Charleston, Missouri. They were married the following summer. Times being what they were, Martha could no longer attend Stephens as a married woman. She transferred to the University of Missouri, determined to complete her education even after the birth of their first child and the absence of her husband for military duty. She received her degree in Elementary Education in 1953. Upon graduation, Martha and baby Jane joined her husband, now a JAG lieutenant in the US Air Force, at Pope AFB, NC. Her first teaching post was the second grade in a brand new elementary school at Ft. Bragg, NC.
After completing his military tour, John & Martha returned to Caruthersville where she taught at the Lee Rood and West Side Elementary schools. In 1959 she retired from teaching to raise her three children.
Over the years Martha has served in or led almost every organization in Caruthersville: Eastwood Memorial United Methodist Church, the library board, school board, area arts council, SEMO, Helen Schult Garden Club, Beta Sigma Phi, the knitting club, Cotton Boll Girl Scout Board and PEO.
Martha’s whole life revolved around her husband and family. She and John were proud parents who challenged their children, for whom they had high expectations. Martha and John loved to entertain friends and family, happily hosting her club meeting, teas, coffees, and dinner parties for their friends. A visitor was always invited to stay for “a glass of tea” or an extra plate was placed at the dinner table. They never met a stranger.
Martha was a devoted daughter who cared for both of her parents daily in their last years. She was a young grandmother who enjoyed many years of outings, vacations, birthdays, and holidays with both her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Without a doubt, Martha’s lifelong passion was genealogy. From childhood she was intrigued by the discovery of family who came before her. Her searches were done the hard way—traveling to libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries far and wide, and writing hundreds of letters seeking information from war records in Washington, DC. Martha’s notes were made with a pencil and paper rather than a laptop. Later, her work was verified when Ancestry and DNA testing came along. Genealogy was more than hobby to Martha – it was a calling. She was a member and of the United States Society Daughters of 1812, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and the Colonial Dames 17th Century. She served in numerous positions in each. Martha was recently honored by the Gayoso Chapter of the DAR as a “Women in American History” nominee. In 2016, she received the Pioneer Heritage Award by the Pemiscot County Historical Society.
Martha’s personal family history in Caruthersville extends back many years. In 2024, she was thrilled to display the sign declaring that the farm bequeathed to her by her father, Leslie Walter Knott, was designated a Missouri Century Farm. Her grandfather Walter Knott. originally purchased and cleared the land in 1916.
Martha was preceded in death by her parents, her husband John in 1993 and her grand daughter-in-law Katie Trocheck Abel in 2022. She is survived by daughters Jane Fowlkes Abel (John) of Columbia, MO, Cyndy Fowlkes Shaw (Mark) of Edmond, OK, and son John Mark Fowlkes (Lynne) of Annapolis, MD.
She was proud of her grandchildren Haley (Eric Duncavage) of St. Louis, MO and Mark Abel of Avondale Estates, GA, Will (Natalie Hamilton) of Hillsboro, OH and Wyley (Emily) Shaw of Edmond, OK, Annie Fowlkes of Annapolis, MD and Lauren Fowlkes Morales (Juan) of Bethesda, MD, as well as her great grandchildren Ellen and Lucy Duncavage, Molly and Griffin Abel, Wells, Hayden, and Wendy Shaw, and Jackson Shaw. She is also survived by her brother Leslie Walter Knott (Norma) of Caruthersville and sister Dorothy Knott Cardwell of Jonesboro, AR as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. Her hundreds of distant cousins know who they are.
Martha’s legacy of service, kindness, and love lives on in all who were blessed to know her. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered.
Visitation at H.S. Smith Funeral Home from 5:00 to 7:00pm on Thursday, June 19. Funeral services at Eastwood Memorial Methodist Church, at 2:00pm, on Friday, June 20, Caruthersville, MO. Interment immediately following the service at Maple Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Eastwood Memorial Methodist Church, Caruthersville, MO Caruthersville Public Library Caruthersville Area Arts Council.