Martha Faye Nicholas Farris, 84, passed from this life into the arms of her Savior on Oct. 28, 2017, in Oxford, Miss., surrounded by her family.  She was born July 10, 1933, in Lafayette County, Miss. to Martha Annis Tatum Nicholas and Willie Roy Nicholas.

She was graduated from University High School and The University of Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor of Science in 1955. She met her husband of 62 years Samuel Hardy Farris, Jr., while they were students at Ole Miss.

Martha Faye and Hardy’s first years of marriage were spent in Eritrea, Ethiopia, where Hardy was an officer in the United States Army.  After returning to the United States in 1957, they made their home in Starkville, Miss., where Hardy earned his master’s degree and Martha Faye worked in the School of Engineering. After Hardy’s graduation, they settled in Clarksdale, Miss., where they reared their children and were active members of Oakhurst Baptist Church. In 1983 they made Oxford their home.

In Oxford, Martha Faye was a faithful member of First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School, served on various committees and ministered to all with her homemade sugar cookies. She was an active member of the Oxford Garden Club and Book Lovers Club. She had a passion for making beautiful French hand sewn clothes for her grandchildren and enjoyed time spent searching for treasures for her antique spaces at the Mustard Seed and Sugar Magnolia. Above all her favorite pastime was spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren, and to her great delight, all five came to Oxford to attend Ole Miss.

Martha Faye was preceded in death by her parents.  She is survived by her husband Samuel Hardy Farris, Jr., her son Samuel Hardy Farris III and his wife Kimberly Pruette Farris of Oxford, and her daughter Catherine Farris Miller and her husband Craig Leon Miller of Jackson, Miss. She leaves her five cherished grandchildren Katherine Farris Myers and her husband Robert William Myers, Samuel Hardy Farris IV and his wife Ainsley Mills Farris, Farris Alexander Miller, Murray Catherine Miller, Martha Tatum Miller, and one beloved great-granddaughter Carolyn Rose Myers. She is also survived by her brother Glen Buren Nicholas and his wife Norma Dickson Nicholas, her brother Billy Frank Nicholas and his wife Bernice Hilton Nicholas, her sister Joanne Nicholas Johnson and her husband James Ronald Johnson, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church in Oxford on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. at the church. A graveside service will follow at Oxford Memorial Cemetery. Reverend Robert Allen and Robert Barrow Farris, Jr. will officiate. Waller Funeral Home in Oxford is in charge of arrangements.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made in Martha Faye’s memory to Oxford Medical Ministries Clinic, 205 South Commerce Cove, Oxford, Mississippi 38655.

For additional information or to sign an online guestbook, please visit our website at www.wallerfuneralhome.com or call 662-234-7971.