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Established 1948 
 Martha Kaye Young-Sutherland, 65, of Sherman passed away after a courageous battle with ovarian cancer on Friday, Nov. 19, 2009 at Wilson N. Jones Medical Center. A memorial service celebrating and honoring her life will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 at the Faith Church, 1800 N. 1417, Sherman. Rev. Ken Dacus of the Victory Missionary Baptist Church will officiate with Horace Groff, Fred Hudson, Gary Park, Billy Ramsey, Robert E. Richardson Jr, Ed Richardson, and Jason Wall serving as pallbearers. Burial will follow at Cedarlawn Memorial Park in Sherman. Family night will be held from 5 -7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 at Waldo Funeral Home in Sherman. Martha was the only child born to Claude and Alda Mae Bush-Young on May 29, 1944, in Trenton. She married Tommy Jay Sutherland in Sherman on March 3, 1967, in Sherman. To that union was born their only child, Tara Jill Sutherland-Wall, on Nov. 27, 1969. Tommy preceded her in death on Jan. 12, 1974. She was a life-long Baptist and member of Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Sherman since 1963. For many years, she served as Church Clerk and taught the teenage Sunday School class. Martha was a 1962 honor graduate of Sherman High School and a 1983 honor graduate of Grayson College. She was a secretary in the Grayson County Attorney's Office from December 1962 to December 1972, and was the first woman to wear a pantsuit to work in the courthouse. When Clifford Powell, Robert Earl Richardson, Jr. and Don L. Jarvis left the County Attorney's Office, she worked for the Powell, Richardson and Jarvis Law Firm from 1973 -1975. Robert Earl Richardson, Jr. opened his private law practice in 1975, and she went with him. His son, Ed Richardson, joined the firm in 1998, and she remained with the Richardson Law Firm until her death. Martha was the first paralegal in Grayson County to go to court with an attorney and participate in court proceedings. She passed a national examination and became a certified legal assistant in October 1988. She is the only person to have been elected four times by her peers as the Grayson County Legal Secretary/Legal Assistant of the year. She loved her classmates and was proud to be a part of the SHS class of 1962 and always served on the steering committee for reunions and prepared the Athenian updates. Martha was a loyal and devoted Sherman Bearcat and attended football games since 1960. She also faithfully attended the cancer support group meetings at the Texas Cancer Center in Sherman, was an avid supporter of the local Relay For Life events, and the SURVIVOR speaker at Relay For Life of Grayson County in 2007 and 2008. She and Tara had articles published in Contemplating Cancer: Stories of Life, Love and Loss. Upon being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August 2006, she was proud that her "Cato/Bush family genes" kicked in which enabled her to become involved in a public awareness campaign to spread the word to other women to "listen to their bodies" and seek medical help when their bodies spoke. She became involved with KXII and Nicole Holt in a series on ovarian cancer called "Fighting the Good Fight" and was privileged to be a part of the KXII portion of "Stand-Up 2 Cancer" which aired on national television. She was also the subject of two 'Info Magazine' articles. Her mission in life became to help others diagnosed with the "demon" cancer and was participating in a clinical trial at Mary Crowley Research Center at Medical City in Dallas to try to find a cure. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Alda Mae Bush-Young of Sherman, and grandmother, Mary Ellen Cato-Bush of Whitewright. Martha is survived by her daughter, Tara Jill Sutherland-Wall; grandsons, Tanner Jay Wall and Janson Edward Wall of Sherman; her grandsons' father, Jason Wall of Sherman; John Wayne Ramsey, her "significant other" since Nov. 20, 1980, and his children, Jason Wayne Ramsey and family of Maypearl; Racquel Garland and family oof Mabank, and Nicole Porter and family of Ovilla, brother-in- law, Phillip Sutherland and wife, Margaret of Denison, sister-in-law, Roxanna Sutherland Walser of Sherman; nephew Bryon Sutherland and wife, Patricia, and family of McKinney; niece Lee Ann Sutherland and family of Sherman; and nephew, Brett Walser and wife, Nikki Walser, and family of Sherman; uncle, C. E. "John" Bush and wife, Gwen, of Sherman; aunt-by-marriage, Betty Bush of Grand Junction, Colo.; and Bush "Cuzzin's" and their families, Gene D. Bush of Beaumont; Carol Taylor of Haltom City; Charles R. Bush of Sherman; Lynda Bauer of Craig, Colo.; Terry John Bush of Hurst; Jane Schulz, Nancy Shirley, and Debi Davidson all of Sherman; Joanne Bell of Dallas; Elayne Petty of Trenton; Mickye Joslin of Gainesville and Keith Barrett of Howe; Glenna Atnip-Large of Ector, and a host of other family members and friends. If desired, memorials may be made to the Victory Baptist Church Ladies Auxiliary at 2949 E. Lamar, Sherman, TX 75090.  Cedarlawn Cemetery Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |
