Springdale Pride Leads Woman to Lifetime of Service

— Springdale lost one of its great servants last month with the death of Martha Lankford. She so generously gave her all to help and better the city she loved.

“The thing I know about Martha is that woman was exceptionally passionate about this town,” said Chris Stecklein, executive director of the Springdale Public Schools Education Foundation.

“Whatever she was interested in, whatever she was working on at the time, she put everything she had in it,” said her daughter, Karen Smith of Springdale.

Lankford became involved with the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History when her own mother died, and Lankford sifted through her things, Smith said.

Lankford went on to become a longtime member of the museum’s board of directors and was active in setting up the museum’s endowment, said Allyn Lord, museum director. In 2005, Lankford was named a lifetime trustee.

“What an honor for her,” Lord said. “It was a simple thing, really, but it was so important to her. At her funeral, it was packed. I had three different people introduce themselves and tell me that Martha always talked about the museum. That’s one of the things that was so great about Martha: She talked about the museum to everyone.”

EvaLena and George W. Reder moved their family to Springdale when Lankford was 11. She graduated from Springdale High School in the 1940s and also graduated from the University of Arkansas. She married Raymond Lankford.

Martha Lankford served for more than 33 years in the Springdale school district, as a music teacher at Springdale Junior High, which became Central Junior High. She taught English at Springdale High School.

After her retirement, Lankford continued her relationship with the schools.

“She was constantly trying to be a connector between the students, graduates, faculty and retired teachers,” said Jim Rollins, Springdale schools superintendent. “The school family was her family. Whatever the issue of the day was, she kept all our stakeholders informed. She knew how important it was to have an advocate for students and teachers. She was always gracious, but her words had power.”

Work began to restore the historic Springdale High School — now the district’s administrative offices — in the 1990s. Lankford organized the Springdale School Alumni Association, which provided much of the landscaping for the building.

“Then she decided they needed to do something else. They needed to provide scholarships,” Smith said. “So she organized fundraisers for this.”

“She worked to expand the mission and scope of the services” of the alumni group, which evolved to become the district’s Education Foundation with her help, Stecklein said. Today the foundation works to provide scholarships to graduates, grant money to teachers for class projects and business partners to support the schools.

The foundation named Lankford as an emeritus director of the board at its inception, Stecklein said. In 2011, the foundation selected her among the first class of Cornerstone members, honored for their service to the district.

Lankford also served the former First Christian Church for many years. Her musical background led her to direct the church choir and hand bell choir. She served at various times as deacon and elder of the church, especially after she retired, said Fleeta Gentry of Springdale, who joined the church and met Lankford in 1952.

Lankford involved herself in the church’s Business and Professional Women chapter, an organization that catered to career women and met at night. She served at special events and would open her home to members of groups who came to the church — members of a handicapped choir or a Tibetan monk.

“She was extra generous with her time and space,” Gentry said. “She was a remarkable person, very good to volunteer places.”

Lankford also enjoyed the community garden at the Jones Center, Smith said. “Mom was a farm girl, she loved her flowers.”

“And she never missed a band concert there,” daughter Kathryn Birkhead added. “When I worked there (as director of diversity and inclusions), every program I was involved in, no matter what it was, I’d look up, and she was coming through the door. And she wasn’t just showing up, she really participated.”

In addition to teaching, Lankford taught piano lessons and made clothes for her children, Smith; Birkhead; son, Michael Lankford; and daughter, the late Frances Sullivan.

“There was so much she did that kept her going,” Birkhead said. “She came from hardy stock. But how she did all that she did? It makes me feel like a slug.”

“She moved here in 1938,” Smith said. “She had a lot of Springdale pride.”

Do you know of an unsung hero in Springdale? Tell me about him: [email protected].

LAURINDA JOENKS IS A FORMER REPORTER AND EDITOR AT THE MORNING NEWS WHO HAS LIVED IN SPRINGDALE SINCE 1990.

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