Sister Martha’s parents, Martin and Georgia Cox Carmody, are deceased now, but did not fail to root Martha and her five siblings in the discipline of military life or a strong faith of rural Calhoun County, Illinois, where they farmed in the county seat of Hardin in the rich alluvial soil between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
Sister Martha was born in El Paso, Texas, and St. Louis, Mo., where her father completed his military career.
She graduated from Calhoun High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Quincy University, completing her master’s in education at Southern Illinois University’s Edwardsville ten years later. For 18 years she taught third and fourth grades at Kampsville Grade School, then moved to Calhoun Elementary School in Hardin where she taught third grade for another six years. During her teaching years she was active in school extracurriculars and in the community, coaching the junior high girls’ track team, driving the school bus for meets and field trips, and serving as a substitute for the regular school-day routes.
She was also very active in her parish, St. Norbert’s in Hardin, where she was a Eucharistic Minister, lector, greeter, and choir member. She also led a weekly scripture study class for adults, brought Eucharist to the homebound, led funeral services, and served as a lay presider for communion services in the absence of a priest. She also taught second grade in the parish school of religion and was the first chair of a newly formed Pastoral Council.
In 1996 Sister Martha joined the Dominicans and made her profession in 2000, beginning her ministry teaching 4th grade at St. Peter and Paul Parish, Cary, Ill., 2000-2002. She returned to Springfield then, and from 2002 until 2016, taught fourth graders at Cathedral School.
Since 2016 Sister Martha has engaged in a variety of ministries for the community, serving as a member of the anchor community for the house of formation, providing enriching activities for the sisters at Sacred Heart Convent, working as a receptionist, and managing a children’s craft program at Jubilee Farm.
God-fulfillment
“Before joining the Dominicans, I had a spiritual void I couldn’t fill, no matter how hard I tried,” Sister Martha recalled. “Since becoming a Dominican Sister of Springfield, I have found peace and contentment. I have been able to not only deepen my relationship God, but also to share my love of Him and work for the betterment of His kingdom here on Earth. I’m able to preach by word and example to those I work with and for.”
