Martha Jane King

Martha Jane King, age 93, passed away peacefully on December 29th, 2025 in Little Rock.
She was born on February 8th, 1932 in Hot Springs to the late Floy and Wesley Taylor. Also preceding her in death were her husband of 57 devoted years, Al King, and son-in-law Michael Henley.
Martha graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1950. She planned to go to college, but a friend of hers was going to apply for a job as a 411 operator at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She asked Martha to go along to steady her nerves and suggested she also apply. Martha got the job and her friend didn't! She still assumed she would go to college at the end of summer, but by the time September came she had "gotten used to that pay envelope every week"!
Her first stint with the phone company, using a plug-style switchboard, lasted 9 years. She married Al King on December 4th, 1954. She took a seventeen year break from the phone company to raise their two daughters.
She returned to Southwestern Bell in 1977 and retired in 1997. During this time she was acknowledged for working 13 years without missing a day. The Arkansas Gazette featured her in a 1983 piece on her life as a telephone operator. This resulted in a deluge of letters enclosed with copies of the article - one asking for her autograph!
Martha was the mom who was willing to drive her daughters and all their friends wherever they needed to go. She made their home a place where all were welcome and other parents considered it a 'safe place' for their children. The same was true for her only grandchild, Hayley, who remembers laughing at her consistent humor and enjoying many unhealthy snacks in her company.
Martha was a member of the Hot Springs Criterion Club and Pioneer Club.
Family was everything, and that included Martha's beloved Smith family. Her mother was a Smith and the oldest of ten children. Martha, being an only child, enjoyed being loved by those aunts and uncles, their children, and their children's children throughout her life. She presided over the last several Smith Family reunions as our matriarch.
She will be forever missed by her daughters, Carol Ann Henley of Jacksonville and Phyllis Jean "P.J." Hodges and husband Dennis of Little Rock; granddaughter Hayley Henley and husband Cole Sanford of Dallas, TX; bonus grandchildren Brian Henley of Conway, Marie Shapley and husband Jeremy of Little Rock; bonus great-grandchildren Gillian Shapley and Samuel Shapley; lifelong friend since they were 5 years old, Jane Randall; her Smith Family; and many friends of her daughters.
Honorary pallbearers are Dennis Hodges of Little Rock, Tommy Smith of Kingwood, TX, James Smith of New Orleans, LA, Jim Randall of Hot Springs, and Cole Sanford of Dallas, TX.
The family wishes to extend a special thank you to her care team at The Summit at Chenal Valley Senior Living in Little Rock. We also extend personal thanks to special friends Jeanne Housely Gardner, Beth Daniel Voorhees, Lisa Hannon Madden, Phyllis Purtee, Christine Blackman (caregiver), and many other caring friends.
There will be a graveside service on Saturday, January 3rd at 12 o'clock at Greenwood Cemetery, Hot Springs. Burial site faces Third Street; enter on Greenwood Avenue and take the first left.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Humane Society of Pulaski County 14600 Colonel Glenn Road Little Rock, AR 72210 or the charity of your choice.