Martha Mulkin

Martha Mobley Mulkin died Saturday, June 16, at Reflections Memory Care Center. She had been a resident of Carterville since 1982.   Martha was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on Nov. 25, 1942, to Charles P. and Tressie Norman Mobley. She married William Trull in 1961. She married John Mulkin in 1985. She was preceded in death by her parents and husbands.   Anyone who knew Martha could tell you she was a smart, determined woman who was dedicated to her passions. Those passions included her pets, music, genealogy, and cut glass.   An avid animal lover, Martha trained and showed Shetland sheepdogs for decades. She had an entire wall of ribbons won in agility contests. Those Shelties were members of the family, as were her cats. Her sisters and nieces credit Martha with instilling a love of cats and dogs in each of them. She was also a gardener, enjoying her harvests as well as the birds that visited throughout each year.    Martha and her husband John were active in Barbershop Harmony Society activities, competitions, and shows around the country. They performed in a mixed quartet together, and Martha also sang with the Sweet Adelines. She enjoyed listening to classical music and loved opera, especially when Joan Sutherland or Luciano Pavarotti was performing. She also enjoyed the music of David Bowie and Paul Simon.   Martha enjoyed researching and documenting family history -- her own family, and others. She wrote and published a book about the families who lived in Cardiff, Alabama, the small mining town near Birmingham where her mother was born. One of her favorite sources of data, the U.S. Federal Census, became her employer; she was a census taker in both 2000 and 2010.   Martha and John collected American Brilliant Period cut glass, attending conventions around the country. Each of her nieces and nephews received a piece of cut glass as a wedding gift.   Martha is survived by her sons, Steve (Chryssi) Trull and Philip (Jennifer) Trull; sisters Sue (Ronnie) Turner and Kathy (Wayne) Mathews; granddaughters Rachel, Sonja, and Hannah Trull; nieces and nephews Jennifer (Tom) Land, Anna (Chad) Stinnett, Charles (Dalila) Mathews, and Ron (Lara) Turner; and dear friend Lawrence Labertew.   The family would like to sincerely thank the wonderful staffs of Reflections, the Villas at Holly Brook, and Hospice of Southern Illinois for taking such good care of Martha — our mother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, Nana, and friend.