Born November 1, 1890, in Finley, Ky., Willie was the daughter of James and Martha Preayer Goodin. When she was 17 years of age, she was baptized a Catholic at Our Lady of the Hills Church in Finley. Seven years later, Willie entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and after a postulancy of seven months, received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Martha on March 25, 1916.
Sister Martha’s first assignment took her to the convent at St. Anthony in Jeffersonville, Ind., where she served the needs of the teaching Sisters for two years. Following two assignments, Chicago, Ky., (St. Francis) and Louisville (St. Columba), Sister Martha was missioned to Nebraska for 11 years and kept house at three separate convents, St. Ann at Dixon, SS. Peter and Paul at Bow Valley, and St. Bernard Academy in Nebraska City. Returning to Kentucky, she had a 14-year assignment at Mount Saint Joseph where she served as cook and baker and made needed clothing for the farm tenants. In 1947, she was missioned to Raywick, Ky., then to Louisville (St. Columba), and Lebanon, Ky., (St Charles). She was off duty following surgery in 1957. In 1958, she was assigned to Louisville (St. Paul and St. Margaret Mary), Hardinsburg, and Buechel, Ky.
Due to multiple infirmities and a second surgery, Sister Martha came to the Motherhouse in 1963. She participated in many of the household duties and community prayer, while her health gradually deteriorated. She suffered a fatal heart attack on December 21, 1972, at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro. Msgr. Bernard Powers, chaplain, and Msgr. Edward Russell officiated at her funeral Mass on December 23, 1972. Sister Martha’s remains are laid to rest in the convent cemetery.