Martha Walling Dowler
February 20, 1938 — January 29, 2017
Mrs. Martha Walling Dowler, 78, of the Ashton Community near Islandton, entered into eternal rest Sunday evening, January 29, 2017, at her home. Martha was the loving wife of fifty-two years to the late Master Sergeant Lawrence Edwin “Ed” Dowler, United States Air Force (Ret.) at the time of his death in 2011.
Funeral services will be conducted 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, February 1, 2017, from The Brice W. Herndon and Sons Funeral Chapel, Walterboro. The Reverend Danny Fogle and The Reverend Gordon Ackerman officiating. Interment will follow in Peniel Baptist Churchyard, 37 Forks Road, Islandton.
Born February 20, 1938 in Colleton County, South Carolina, she was a daughter of the late Joe Walling and the late Ethel Taylor Walling Fennell. She worked as a telephone operator beginning her career in Charleston, South Carolina, prior to her husband’s assignment to Rhein Main Air Force Base in Germany where she continued in her profession, working closely with the Base Commander. She was a member of Ashton Baptist Church. Martha loved her family dearly and centered her life around those she loved. She enjoyed spending time in her yard and tending to the beautiful flowers she cultivated for each season of the year.
Surviving are: a daughter, Judith Dowler Bailey of Ashton, and two grandchildren, Taylor Christine Bailey and Leslie Ann Bailey. She was preceded in death by two children, Corey Edwin Dowler and Sharon Lynn “Sherri” Dowler; and a sister, Joan Walling Stanfield.
The family will receive friends during a time of visitation prior to her funeral ceremony beginning at 1 o’clock that afternoon at THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES AND CREMATORY, WALTERBORO CHAPEL, 1193 Bells Highway, Walterboro; 843.538.5408. Visit our online registry at: www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com.