Martha "Marti" Weldon Wheaton

Martha Magdalene Weldon, lovingly known as “Marti,” was born on May 7, 1944, to Mary Ruth Bethune and Samuel P. Weldon. She passed away on February 23, 2026, at 11:13 p.m., surrounded by her devoted family, after a life defined by resilience, determination, fierce love, and an unforgettable spirit.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET in the Larry Moore Memorial Chapel of Moore Funeral Home in Trenton, Georgia. Interment will follow at Weldon Cemetery in Flat Rock, AL.

The family will receive friends at Moore Funeral Home on Saturday from 1:00 PM until the service hour.

She leaves behind her beloved children: Tammy Lynn Buzzan; Lisa Martinez; Kristopher Lockard and his wife, Bunny; and Kimberly Carboni and her husband, Jeff. Marti was the proud grandmother of 14 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild- a legacy that brought her immense joy.

Marti is also survived by her seven siblings: Gloria Clark, Marlin Weldon, Lara Fyfe Rader, Rick Weldon, Vivian Clevenger, Donna Weldon, and Deone Varian, as well as her many nieces and nephews who cherished her. She was preceded in death by her husband, Fred Wheaton, and her parents, Mary Ruth Bethune and Samuel P. Weldon.

Marti entered this world carrying both joy and sorrow. She was the first grandchild to survive after her family endured the loss of three infant sons, a living promise after heartbreak. From the beginning, she was bright, capable, and ahead of her time. As a young schoolgirl, she was so eager to learn that teachers would ask her to stop raising her hand and give others a chance, because Marti always knew the answer.

She grew up rising with the roosters, walking long wooded paths, and crossing creeks to reach the school bus. Education was never a burden to her; it was a gift she chased eagerly. Even as a child, she carried responsibility beyond her years, often caring for younger siblings and helping her mother while her parents worked the fields as sharecroppers. She is remembered as the oldest sibling, a baby on her hip more often than not. Marti never shrank from hard things.

One story captures her courage best: as a young girl, when her mother went into labor unexpectedly at home, Marti was told to put water on the stove and prepare to help deliver the baby. Terrified but determined, she ran barefoot through a snake-filled field to summon help from a nearby dairy farm. That run without shoes abandoned mid-field, speaks to who she was her entire life: brave, fast-thinking, and willing to run straight through fear for the people she loved.

Marti married young and became a mother to Tammy at seventeen. Though her first marriage ended, she built her life again and later welcomed three more beautiful children: Lisa, Kristopher, and Kim. She endured seasons of great hardship, but she found the strength to start again. Survival was never passive for Marti.

She was competitive, beautiful, and driven. Before her Disney years, Marti was the captain of her bowling league team. She was a talented and serious bowler with her own ball, shoes, and bag. She loved to win. In her signature blend of strategy and sisterhood, she recruited her sister onto the team, partly because she needed the handicap, but mostly because they were inseparable and she wanted them together.

She worked at Walt Disney World in its early days, serving at the Top of the World at the Contemporary Hotel, where she thrived. She later opened an exclusive children’s boutique, earned a coveted pink Cadillac with Mary Kay, and found success again in PartyLite and Park Lane. Marti had the heart of an entrepreneur. As if those accomplishments were not enough, she also attained her real estate license and completed a degree in interior design. She was not just a dreamer; she worked hard to create a life she was proud of. When she believed in something, she pursued it fully.

In the 1970s, before marriage and responsibility fully took hold, she shared joyful, wild years with her sister, following Elvis Presley across cities, seeing him perform multiple times, even playing darts with members of his band. Those were golden years, filled with laughter and freedom.

At eighty years old, after the passing of her husband Fred, Marti met the love of her life. Bill Delaney of Connecticut and Cape Cod became a bright light in her final chapter. Their love was gentle, pure, and sweet, the kind of love that finds you late but feels like destiny. For a brief and beautiful year, they lived side by side.

She is fondly remembered for her infectious laugh, her sage wisdom, her stories, and the unwavering encouragement she so freely gave to the younger people in her life. Marti never stepped out without looking her best—makeup perfectly in place, adorned in her signature hats and fascinators—captivating all who crossed her path. As the family storyteller and keeper of ancestral history, she carried a remarkable memory that remained sharp even in her later years. She had a gift for knowing people deeply, caring not only about who they were, but about the stories that shaped them. Her generosity of spirit knew no bounds. Though life brought hardships that might have hardened her, she instead chose love, never missing an opportunity to remind you how deeply she cared, how beautiful you were, and how proud she was of you.

In her final days, her most frequent words were simple and powerful:

“I love you.”

Marti’s life was bold, colorful, ambitious, and above all, it was full of love.