Emily Ruth Marti, a former Woodland Junior High teacher and principal of Asbell Elementary, died Sept. 19, 1992. She was 77.
She was born October 18, 1914, at Fordyce, Arkansas, to James Byron Atkinson Sr. and Emma Eliza Shugart Atkinson.
During World War II, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in 1943 and served through the end of the war. She married Alfred J. Marti in 1945 in Florida. They had at least one son, Albert J. Marti Jr. The Martis moved to Fayetteville from Fordyce in the early 1950s, and she began teaching in the Fayetteville school system. She became the first principal of Asbell Elementary when it opened in fall of 1962.
A former student recalled making a change between fourth and fifth grade from Bates Elementary to Asbell. “I remember Mrs. Marti making all of us new students feel welcome. She was so nice,” the student wrote.
She served as principal for 15 years.
She is buried in Fayetteville National Cemetery,