- Date Of Birth: November 29, 1931
- Date Of Death: May 27, 2022
- State: Tennessee
Martha Ann Grant Likins passed away on Friday, May 27, 2022, at age 90, at Richland Health Care Center in Nashville, TN from heart failure.
Mrs. Likins was born in Eminence, KY on November 29, 1931, to Rev. Dr. Charles Grant and Marianna Edwards. Her birth marked the commencement of her long association with the United Methodist Church in various roles.
After her father accepted the pastor’s role at Crescent Hill UMC in Louisville, she met William Henry Likins at a youth meeting. She describes this as “love at first sight”. Their love was deepened by a trip to the National Methodist Youth Conference in Cleveland in 1947.
After Bill graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1948, he enrolled at Asbury College in Kentucky. Martha joined him after she graduated from Atherton High School in 1949. After a few years, her parents encouraged her to transfer to DePauw University in Greenville, Indiana.
Being apart was hard to bear, and when Bill finished at Asbury, he moved to Emory University Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, GA as a master’s degree theology student. They declared their intention to marry during this time. They were married in June 1952 with Rev. Dr. Charles Grant performing the evening, candlelight ceremony just one week before he moved to Memphis to accept pastorship of Christ Methodist Church.
Martha transferred to Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and graduated with a A.B. in 1954. Bill graduated from the Candler School of Theology in 1954 one day after Martha’s graduation.
Their first child, Jeanne Marie, was born while they were both students. During and after graduation, they ministered to small churches in Georgia, until they were called to Indiana to continue this mission in Shirley and Wilkinson. Second child, William Henry Jr. was born there.
When Bill was chosen to be a candidate for the Orem Miller Fellowship for Doctoral Studies at the School of Theology at Boston University they moved to Boston. They were challenged by the move to a different culture and the inclement weather, but they persisted in being loyal church servant leaders. The newly minted Rev. Dr. William Henry Likins, ThD, and Martha Grant Likins served two churches in Natick, MA and Worcester, MA. During this time their third child, David Scott Likins was born.
In 1967 Bill was offered a position with the Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville and the family moved there. While raising her family there, Martha found meaningful work first as a volunteer teaching reading to those who needed additional individual attention and then as an elementary school teacher, teaching grades 1 to 3.
She achieved Teacher Certification from the University of Tennessee-Nashville in 1972. Bill also completed work for the PhD in Higher Education Administration at Peabody College, Vanderbilt
University during their first residence in Nashville. This paved the way for executive leadership in College administration.
As the spouse of the vice president for development at Adrian College, a UMC college in Michigan, Martha accompanied Bill on calls to key donors and leaders around the country.
Throughout Martha’s long life, she served the church in many ways. As the spouse of a Methodist pastor, and she also served as a church volunteer and community leader in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
After Bill’s death, Martha began her own solo life as a servant of the church, with special outreach to the sick and dying. During this time, she met a woman she refers to as my “anam cara” or “soul friend” in Celtic mystic. The Likins family is grateful for Sally Ahner’s love and devotion to Martha.
Survivors include her three children, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren as well as her brother and sister-in -law, their two children and her close cousin. There are numerous friends around the country who also mourn Martha’s passing.
