Funeral services for Martha Jean Kemp, will be held Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the Trinity Baptist Church, 12 3rd Ave NE Ardmore, with Reverend Terry Tolbert officiating. Interment will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery.
A time of visitation and support for the family will be held at the Harvey-Douglas Funeral Home, 2118 S. Commerce, Ardmore, Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Martha (Jean) Harvey Kemp, born September 26, 1936, in Grandfield, Texas, lived a life marked by faith, family, and an unwavering devotion to others. She was the daughter of Mitchell and Josephine Harvey and the sister of Jack and Mike Harvey. In 1942, her family moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where Jean would eventually build her lifelong home and community.
From a young age, Jean demonstrated remarkable maturity and independence, qualities that would define her throughout her life. She cared deeply for her family and developed the resilience and compassion that became hallmarks of her character—as a teacher, mother, wife, and friend.
At sixteen, Jean married Harold W. Thompson on December 26, 1952, and soon moved to the United Kingdom, where Harold was stationed with the U.S. Air Force. Their son, Scott, was born there in 1956. After returning to the United States, Jean attended McNeese State College in Lake Charles, Louisiana, graduating cum laude before beginning her teaching career. Her marriage to Harold ended in 1963, marking the start of a new chapter in her life as a devoted educator and, later, as a wife and mother once more.
Jean married Clyde Kemp on March 10, 1966, the boy who had once lived across the street from her in Ardmore. They shared fifty-five years of marriage, raising two sons—Scott and Jesse—and serving as pillars of their community and of Trinity Baptist Church in Ardmore. Jean taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School for many years and was known as a prayer warrior, mentor, and trusted friend to countless people she encountered in church, at school, and in the broader Ardmore community.
Jean’s teaching career spanned over three decades. She taught at Will Rogers Elementary from 1966 to 1972 and later at Plainview Elementary School from 1982 until her retirement in 1998. In 1994, she was honored as Plainview Teacher of the Year. Her fifth-grade classroom was legendary—students might have dreaded being placed in “Mrs. Kemp’s class,” but parents lined up for the privilege. Her creative teaching methods became part of local lore—headstands to explain reciprocal fractions, loud sneezes that startled hallways, and her annual showing of The Man from Snowy River, complete with a well-timed shout before a certain forbidden word.
Even after retirement, Jean’s dedication to education continued. She played a leading role in multiple Plainview Schools bond initiatives (from 1994 to 2010), securing funding for new classrooms, a gymnasium, and facilities that transformed the district into one of the most sought-after in the state.
At home, Jean’s love of family shone through her traditions—the Kemp-Harvey summer trips to Turner Falls and the Christmas Brunch at Prairie Valley Road, a gathering still carried on today by her niece Becky.
Jean is survived by her brother, Mike Harvey (Jennifer Harvey) of Ardmore, Oklahoma, sons, Scott Thompson and his wife Elizabeth of Durango, Colorado, and Colonel Jesse Kemp, USMC (Ret), and his wife Annjetta Valero-Kemp of Fredericksburg, Virginia; grandchildren Erin Farmer (Thomas Farmer) of Charlotte, North Carolina, Katherine Jean Thompson (Kevin Thornton) of Fort Worth, Texas, Jack Andrew Kemp of Fredericksburg, Virginia and Bridget Jean-Louise Kemp of Richmond, Virginia; and great-grandchildren Maddie Grace and Luke Farmer of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Services are entrusted to Harvey-Douglas Funeral Home where words of comfort and condolence may be left online at www.hdouglasfuneralhome.com.
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