Martha Catherine Crowell

Martha Pitt Crowell passed away peacefully in her home on Friday, November 10, 2023 at the age of 76. One of three children born to Catherine and Walter “Brownie” Pitt, she was a lifelong resident of Rocky Mount and an alumna of North Carolina Wesleyan College. After graduating from college, she joined her family’s Avis Rent-a-Car business and helped it expand to nearly a dozen locations across the state. She later became a special education teacher where her love, kindness, and patience touched the lives of hundreds of children. But Martha was perhaps best known as a gifted musician. At the age of five, after convincing her parents to purchase a piano, she learned to play and began performing for church services by age ten. Throughout her life, she blessed countless events, weddings, and funerals with her unique interpretation of traditional music. For her, the notes on the page were mere guidelines that she infused with her personal touch and creative flair. Martha also served as the pianist for churches in Spring Hope, Rocky Mount, Nashville, and Dortches for over thirty years and shared her musical knowledge with dozens of students as a piano teacher. Like the entire Pitt family, Martha personified the value of hard work. When her husband of thirty-five years, Kenneth Crowell, became disabled, she was the sole breadwinner for over twenty of those years. As she worked as a school teacher, piano teacher, and church pianist, Martha also found joy as an avid crafter and creator. She constructed hundreds of Christmas wreaths with dozens of themes, transcribed her musical interpretations into sheet music, and sewed pillows and curtains that her family continues to treasure. As a kidney transplant and stroke survivor, Martha experienced challenges that few of us can imagine. But no matter where she was, she always created community and lasting friendships with her positive attitude and cheerful demeanor. She and her family would like to sincerely thank the dedicated professionals who cared for her and, in the process, became more like family. Left to cherish her memory are her son, Austin Jackson (Sarah); grandson, Gray; brother, Wrennie Pitt (Elizabeth); sister, Mary Bryan Fryar (Hal); niece, Layne Jeffreys King; nephews, William (Claudia) and Dixon Pitt (Anne), Rob Jeffreys, and her best friend Paul Peele, Jr. Martha's exuberant spirit was contagious. Those who knew her will remember her not just for the roles she played as a businesswoman, educator, and musician, but also for the joy she brought into every room and the lives she uplifted with her talent. She will be greatly missed! A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 25 at 11:00AM at The Jane (formerly known as The Fountains of the Albemarle) at 200 Trade Street in Tarboro.

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Martha Catherine Crowell

August 9, 1947 - November 10, 2023