Martha Ann Davies, of Lincoln, Nebraska, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, died Thursday, August 23, 2018 at The Monarch Hospice House in Lincoln of a glioblastoma brain tumor. Martha was born June 27th, 1941 in Santa Monica, California to Lucius and Josephine (Williams) Mull. She is survived by her loving husband Berwyn Emrys Jones of Lincoln, Nebraska. She is survived also by her children Elinor (Dickey) Kelliher of Ludlow, Massachusetts and Albert Dickey of Austin, Texas; two grandsons, Patrick and Owen Kelliher of Ludlow, Massachusetts and a sister Catherine Smythe of Laguna Beach, California.
Martha received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Redlands University, California then worked as a librarian at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Subsequently, she lived in New Haven, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; London, England; Aberystwyth, Wales; Albany, New York; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ames, Iowa; South Hadley, Massachusetts and most recently Lincoln, Nebraska. Her work included teaching poetry in the schools in Buffalo and restoring a three story Edwardian house in Aberystwyth. She also trained and worked as a Dental Hygienist.
Most recently, Martha was a well known Welsh-English translator, historian and genealogist. She had learned the Welsh language while living in Aberystwyth with her late husband, James Dickey. In recent years, she was the Archivist at the Archive for Welsh America at the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre in Wymore, Nebraska. In addition, she served tirelessly on the Board of Directors for the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project. One of her chief passions was translating the stories of the Welsh-American settlers and sharing these stories with others. These stories were brought to life in historical reenactments. Martha interpreted the story of Ellinor Francis, an American pioneer who had come from Wales in 1852.
In 2016, she was honored by the Gorsedd of the Bards of the Isle of Britain at the National Eisteddfod in recognition of her translation of countless newspaper articles, histories of Welsh-American communities, and hundreds of obituaries of Welsh-American ancestors as well as her translation and publication of four books of Welsh-American history, one with her late husband Phillips G. Davies of Ames, Iowa. This honor is rarely bestowed on an American.
Her final major project was the production of a short film about Welsh settlers in Nebraska in the 1800’s, for the Nebraska Sesquicentennial. It is available on the website www.welshheritageproject.org and has been shown on several public television stations.
Her genealogical research led her to the discovery that she was the ninth great grand daughter of Myles Standish, the Captain of the Mayflower. She was enormously proud of her membership in the Nebraska Mayflower Society. She was also recently inducted into P.E.O., a philanthropic organization supporting the advancement of women.
Martha has touched countless others with her kindness, generosity, enthusiasm and joy. The remarkable serenity and peace with which she faced her transition to everlasting life will continue to serve as an example to all who spent time with her in her last days. She will be greatly missed.
Services will be held Sunday, September 2nd at 4 pm at St Mark’s on the Campus Episcopal Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Memorials may be made to the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project Endowment, the Monarch Hospice House, or St Mark’s on the Campus.