[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16206-16207]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   IN MEMORY OF MARTHA CAROLYN EDENS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 2015

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, October 15th, 
South Carolinians paused from recovery efforts of record flooding to 
recognize the life of Martha Carolyn Edens with a Service of Death and 
Resurrection at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church in Columbia.
  The Reverend Doctor Bill Bouknight properly began the sermon 
recognizing her as a Caring Conservative.
  Martha Edens was a devoted pioneer in establishing the modem 
Republican Party. She was an active volunteer in August 1961 electing 
Richland Representative Charlie Boineau to the House of Representatives 
as the first Republican elected to the General Assembly in the 
Twentieth Century. He was joined in 1962 by State Representative Floyd 
Spence of Lexington who was the first elected official to switch 
parties. Through her family's dedication she lived a revolution where 
Republicans by 2010 held elected all statewide state and federal 
offices. Additionally super majorities were achieved in the State House 
and Senate with eight of nine federal offices. From isolated pockets of 
Republican transplants from the Northeast and Midwest in 1961, the 
party is now dominant in almost every corner of the state.
  She helped establish a broad-based party in 2010 electing Nikki Haley 
as the state's first female Governor in 340 years and as America's 
second Indian-American Governor. With Tim Scott, being the second 
African-American elected to Congress in the twentieth Century and in 
2014 he achieved being the first popularly elected African-American 
ever from the South to the U.S. Senate. Additionally with Alan Wilson, 
South Carolina elected American's youngest State Attorney General.
  Martha Edens' vision and dedication to the principles of limited 
government and expanded freedom have been adopted by the people of 
South Carolina. On October 11th, a thoughtful obituary was published in 
The State of Columbia, South Carolina.

       Columbia Memorial service for Martha Carolyn Edens, 87, 
     will be held at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, October 15, 2015, at 
     Trenholm Road United Methodist Church. Following the service, 
     the family will receive friends in the church dining hall. 
     Burial will be private in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Dunbar 
     Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.
       Ms. Edens died Friday, October 9, 2015. Born in Richland 
     County, she was the daughter of the late James Drake Edens 
     Sr. and May Florence Youmans Edens. She graduated from Dreher 
     High School, attended Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga., 
     and graduated from the University of South Carolina.
       Martha lived a well-spent life of love, dedication and 
     generosity. In addition to being a loving, caring mother to 
     her two children, Martha accomplished more in her life than 
     most people even dream of. She was active in politics, her 
     college fraternity, Zeta Tau Alpha, her church, Trenholm Road 
     United Methodist and her community. Among the highlights of 
     Martha's many accomplishments was being awarded the Order of 
     the Palmetto in 1995 by Governor Carroll A. Campbell.
       On the local level, she served the Richland County 
     Republican Party as Party Chairman, Finance Chairman and 
     Precinct Committeeman. Martha served as Vice Chairman of the 
     First Tuesday Republican Club. She was a member of the 
     Richland County Ivory

[[Page 16207]]

     Club, the Richland County Republican Women's Club and was a 
     governor's mansion docent.
       A true community leader, Martha was also an active member 
     of Trenholm Road United Methodist Church, having served on 
     numerous boards and committees and was an Advisory Board 
     member of Lutheran Theological Seminary. Martha was also an 
     active board member of the Palmetto Society of the United Way 
     and the Salvation Army of Columbia and she was former 
     president and member of the State Board of Directors of South 
     Carolina Easter Seal Society. Additionally, Martha was a 
     member of the South Carolina Museum Commission and the SC Law 
     Institute Council. She was a former member of the Advisory 
     Board of Republic National Bank and the Citizens Committee 
     for the Construction of the Richland County Judicial Center. 
     She served as treasurer of the South Carolina Republican 
     Party.
       A longtime member of the Capitol 100 Foundation, Martha 
     served our state as National Committeewoman on the Republican 
     National Committee, where she became known as one of the most 
     outstanding national committeewomen in the nation. As 
     National Committeewoman, she served on the Rules Committee of 
     the RNC, was elected Vice Chairman of the Southern Region and 
     served on the Chairman's Executive Committee, having served 
     four years in each of those positions. In 1992, Martha 
     served, along with Honorary Chairman Carroll A. Campbell, as 
     Chairman of the Southern Republican Conference. Elected to 
     serve as one of eight members of the Site Selection Committee 
     for the 1996 Republican National Convention, Martha also 
     served on the Committee on Arrangements for the San Diego 
     convention. On the state level, Martha had the honor of 
     serving on the South Carolina Election Commission.
       She served as Vice President on the Board of Trustees of 
     Brenau University for thirty years, received the Outstanding 
     Alumnae Award for Community Service and received the 
     prestigious Mary Mildred Sullivan Award given to 
     distinguished alumnae.
       Martha was also a member of the Board of Visitors for 
     Columbia College, the Advisory Board for the Medical 
     University of South Carolina and served Richland County 
     School District Two as a Board of Trustees member, Secretary, 
     Vice President and Chairman. Additionally, Martha held office 
     on the Board of Trustees of Richland Memorial Hospital and 
     worked as a volunteer with the Help-Line Crisis Intervention 
     Program and Baptist Medical Center Hospice.
       Dearest to her heart, though, was her lifelong involvement 
     with Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity. She served as Province 
     President for the states of North and South Carolina and 
     Georgia, National Vice President, National President, 
     National Extension Director, Chairman, International Office 
     Building Committee, President of Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation 
     and served on the Foundation Board as a director. Her 
     fraternity honors were as an Honor Ring Recipient, Vivian 
     Ulmer Smith Rushing Award, Alumnae Certificate of Merit, 
     Louise Kettler Helper Award and Outstanding Alumnae Award.
       Martha Carolyn Edens had many dear friends who valued her 
     dry wit, her sharp humor and her unfailing sense of style. 
     Her honesty, ethics and fairness could always be counted on. 
     She gave generously in donating her time and talents.
       Surviving are her daughter, Dinah Helms Cook (Phil); 
     daughter-in-law, Pamela Blaylock Helms; grandchildren, Blake 
     Edens Helms, James Cook, Jennifer Cook and Allison Cook. Also 
     surviving are nieces and nephews and many dear friends. 
     Martha was predeceased by her former husband, William Edgar 
     Helms Jr.; her son, William Edgar Helms III; and brothers, 
     James Drake Edens Jr. and William Youmans Edens Sr.

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