Martha Jean Heady

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Martha Jean (Haltom) Heady died peacefully in her home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, surrounded by her family on August 6, 2022. Martha was the youngest child born to Clyde and Jessie (Findley) Haltom on January 18, 1940, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She attended Valley View Schools through the fifth grade and moved with her family to Coffeyville, Kansas where she attended and graduated from Field Kindley Memorial High School. While in high school she met her future husband, Byron (Barney) Heady, Jr. They married after her graduation and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, to begin their family where their three daughters, Brenda, Marcia, and Linda were born. Five years later they moved back to Jonesboro and raised their daughters in the Valley View Community.

Martha was a dedicated, faithful, and lifelong member of the Church of the Nazarene. She used her gift of music to sing in the choir and several ladies groups, including Sweet Assurance. Martha was also known as an influential businesswoman in the community, first with her decorating skills, later as the owner of two Diet Centers: one in Jonesboro and another in Paragould, and lastly as the sole owner and operator of her health food store, Health-N-Action. She retired in 2014 and she and Barney moved to Fayetteville in 2019 to be closer to her children and grandchildren. The most important part of Martha’s life was her love for Jesus and her love for her family. She was a proud and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend.

Martha was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Byron (Barney) L. Heady; daughter, Linda K. Heady; her parents, Clyde and Jessie Lee (Findley) Haltom; two sisters, Naomi Catherine Haltom, and Virginia Ruth (Haltom) Griffin; one brother, William Clyde Haltom; brother-in-law’s, Ed Stallings, and Ruben Griffin; and one sister-in-law Judith (Heady) Kaiser Brooks.

She is survived by her daughters: Brenda (Heady) Vail and husband Geron Vail, and Marcia Heady; grandchildren: Andrea (Vail) Wilson and husband John Wilson, Tiffany (Lamb) Beaver and husband John Mark Beaver, Dustin Vail and partner Kate Vinroot, Randi (Lamb) Mitchell and husband Ty Mitchell, Terah (Vail) Munstermann and husband Dane Munstermann: ten great-grandchildren; Caleb Wilson, Maci Mitchell, Dane Wilson, Ella Mitchell, Linus Vail, Allie Wilson, Florence Vail, Jack Beaver, Genevieve Beaver, and baby boy Munstermann due this October. One sister also survives her: Roberta (Boots) Haltom Stallings; sister-in-law’s, Barbara (Barrett) Haltom, Jo Ann (Heady) Nicolas and husband Calvin, Jane (Heady) McDow and husband Victor; and one brother-in-law, Haskell Heady, along with nieces, nephews, and other lives she has touched including lifelong friends and family.

Graveside services will be Saturday, August 13, 2022, 3:00 p.m. at Keller’s Chapel Cemetery in Jonesboro, Arkansas. As a request by both Martha and Barney their remains will be buried together. Instead of flowers the family request that donations be sent to Circle of Life Hospice, 901 Jones Road, Springdale, Arkansas, 72762.