Martha Harrell Davenport, 92, passed away Saturday, February 12, 2022. A funeral service will be held for Martha at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 16, 2022, in Aldersgate/New Creation United Methodist Church in Chesapeake, Virginia with the Rev. Randy Duncan and the Rev. Spencer Black officiating. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Loving Funeral Home, Churchland Chapel, in Portsmouth, Virginia. A graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 19, 2022, at Oak Ridge Cemetery, where she will be laid to rest.
Mrs. Davenport was born in Brookfield, Georgia on November 21, 1929, the daughter of the late Edgar Floyd and Lessie Carter Harrell. Martha graduated from Tifton High School and attended Norman College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She later taught elementary school and served as Director of Children’s Work, First Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia, where she met her husband, John S. Davenport, Jr. While married, Martha taught Bible Studies and was a Weekday Religious Educator in Botetourt County and in the Alleghany area.
Martha is preceded in death by her husband, John S. Davenport, Jr.
Martha is survived by her son David Davenport and his wife, Paula; daughter, Miriam Fischer and her husband Eric; grandchildren, Christopher Yost and his wife, Christina, and Cameron Yost and his fiancée, Eisha; and grandchildren, Madison and Tia Davenport; nieces and nephews Larry Harrell, Ray Lyles, Don Chandler, Livia Harper, Suzanne Stinson, Gregory Davenport, Virginia Lynn Haiderer and the late Ike Harrell, Jr., and Vivian Counts.
A special thank you to the owners and staff of Liza’s Residential Care in Virginia Beach for taking wonderful care of Martha for the past year until her passing.