MARTHA GREEN 1941 – 2023
Martha Johnson Green of Navasota passed away Nov. 14, 2023, in Houston at the age of 82. She was born on Oct. 31, 1941, in San Antonio to parents Hazel and Hale Robison.
Martha started college at 16 and received her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Texas in Austin in 1961, where she met her first husband, James Calhoun Johnson. They married and moved to Houston where they raised their three children, Foster Melissa, and Alec.
Martha was actively involved in Houston’s historic preservation movement and served as president of The Heritage Society. She also served for many years on the altar guild at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston. As a member of the Ladies Parish Association, she helped edit “Cathedral Cookery,” a cookbook with recipes gathered from parish families.
In 1981, the family suffered the tragedy of the death of James Johnson at only 46. Widowed with three children, Martha pursued a new course, returning to school to earn an accounting degree from the University of Houston.
In 1984, she married her second husband, Malcolm Green, and soon after moved to Navasota, where she lived for the last 30 years of her life. She taught high school English in nearby Anderson for 14 years before going on to earn a PhD in educational psychology at Texas A&M University.
Martha was known for her research in digital storytelling and published her work in academic journals and presented at conferences in the US, Greece, England and China. She led a group of Texas teachers on a Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad in China.
At Texas A&M Martha also worked as the program coordinator for the Office of International Outreach and the Confucius Institute, organizing educational programs for teachers and the College Station community. In Navasota, she was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Navasota Historical Society, and the Navasota Garden Club.
Martha loved art and architecture, and collected artwork from across the world. She was also an avid traveler, frequenting New Mexico, China and Guatemala.
She is survived by her three children, who all still remember the awesome space-themed, jungle-themed, and cooking-themed birthday parties she organized for them. She is also survived by her daughters-in-law, Shanna Johnson and Audrey Johnson; and her four grandchildren, Phoebe Rozger, Olivia Rozger, Max Johnson and Rex Johnson; and her cat Oreo!