Martha Reece Hall Calhoun Curtis

Martha Reece Hall Calhoun Curtis passed away on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, at Mercy Health - Lourdes Hospital at the age of 81.

She was born on Oct. 31, 1943, in Harris, North Carolina, the fourth child of nine children. Her parents were Bert Gene Reece and Ethel Carver Reece. Martha worked for the City of Paducah for five years as Secretary for Paducah Main Street. She also became a Kentucky Colonel when Martha Layne Collins was Governor. She was a member of Lone Oak First Baptist Church.

Martha was a country music singer, songwriter, and performer for most of her younger years, performing with two sisters all her teenage years, singing mostly bluegrass gospel. They sang in hundreds of churches throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, often where their father preached. The Reece Sisters performed on Saturday morning with Snuffy Jenkins and the Hired Hands on WIS-TV's "Carolina In The Morning" and had two radio shows on WCAY Radio in Cayce, South Carolina, and WBLR Radio in Batesburg, South Carolina. They also toured with The Porter Wagoner Show and appeared on his television show when Little Miss Norma Jean was on it.

After marriage to N.J. Hall in Leesville, South Carolina, Martha began working as a single and was booked as Martha Hall. For several years, she went with a group of entertainers to perform for the South Carolina National Guardsmen at Fort Stewart, Georgia, during their summer encampment, with the Redd Reynolds "Caravan of Stars" show. She appeared on shows with Grand Ole Opry comedian Cousin Wilbur in Greenland, Spain, Germany, and England, as well as several service bases all over the United States.

Martha eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1974 and was booked by the Buddy Lee Agency. She was spotlighted on shows with Hank Williams Jr. touring through the Carolinas, she was also performed with Narvel Felts, Billy Thundercloud, The Chieftains, The Stoneman Family, Marty Robbins, and many more. She has traveled through or performed in every U.S. state except three. After moving to Nashville, Martha was asked to join a unique group formed by Buddy Mize, a songwriter and agent for Buddy Lee, called The Nashville Cowboy Love Band. He wrote plays that included country songs, and the members acted out their parts and sang the song that went with it. They appeared on stage at the War Memorial Auditorium, the Western Room, WSIX-TV's "Barbara Moore Show," and Huel Houser's "The Changing Scene" on WSM-TN. Eventually, as fate had it, she was booked at the Old Continental Inn at the Time Out in Paducah before making Paducah her home.

After losing her second husband to COPD, she met her third husband, William Murrill Curtis, a home builder, and eventually became Mrs. W.M. Curtis.

Her stepchildren are Kelly (Scott) Walker, Phillip (Mary Karen) Curtis, and Robert (Valerie) Calhoun. She has many nieces and nephews, as well as step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her older brother, Donald Wiseman Reece; sister, Marjorie Reece Griffith (Charles); younger brother, Samuel Gilmer Reece (Donna); two husbands, Nathaniel Jacob Hall "N.J." and Orville Earl Calhoun who owned and operated Calhoun's Custom Speed Shop in Lone Oak and Calhoun Custom Motorsports at 9th and Broadway in Paducah.

Visitation will begin at noon and funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah with Rev. Bob Martin officiating. Burial will follow at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to The McGangsters, c/o Lone Oak Animal Clinic, 125 Augusta Ave., Paducah, KY or to Lone Oak First Baptist Church Building Fund, 3601 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, KY 42003.

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