Martha Virginia Still Kemp
Martha Virginia “Ginger” Still Kemp, age 71, of Holly Springs, Mississippi, passed away on August 30, 2017, at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi, due to heart failure. Ginger was born on December 25, 1945, in Marion, Indiana. Ginger graduated from Riviera Beach High School in Riviera Beach, Florida. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree (majoring in Spanish and minoring in French) in 1967 from Emory University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
On August 26, 1967, she married William “Bill” Gerald Kemp, who was a fellow student at Emory, majoring in English, from Ashland, Mississippi. Bill graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1968. The couple was faithful in their membership in the First United Methodist Church in Holly Springs.
Ginger taught foreign languages at Pontotoc High School while Bill completed law school. The couple then moved to Holly Springs wherein Bill started his own law practice. Ginger, a foreign language and English teacher known for her wicked sense of humor; bluntness; intelligence; and impact on her students, taught for many years at Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, and retired from the Shelby County, Tennessee, school system. Each student loved being a member of Mrs. Kemp’s class, as she taught life lessons, in addition to the subjects she was passionate about. Ginger loved keeping her linguistic skills sharp by engaging in French or Spanish conversation when the opportunity presented itself.
Mrs. Kemp was predeceased by her parents, Malvern Brettell Still and Mary Martha Shaddick Still of West Palm Beach, Florida; her brother, James Warren Still of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and her grandson, Caden Luke Kemp of New Albany, Mississippi. She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Virginia Kemp Towery and grandchildren, Gerald Brach Parker and Johnathan Chance Lorenzi Towery of New Albany, Mississippi; and her son, William Brettell Kemp of Holly Springs, Mississippi.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, September 6, 2017, at 11 a.m. at the Holly Springs Funeral Home, 1160 Highway 311 North, Holly Springs, Mississippi, with Reverend William Kemp and Reverend Jeff Tollison officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church Building Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 147, Holly Springs, Mississippi 38635. Per her wishes, Ginger’s ashes will be scattered in the ocean off of Palm Beach, Florida, her home before Holly Springs, and a place she desired to return to after her husband’s passing.
paid obituary