Martha Temple Bannister, 72, died Monday. A native of Zebulon, she was the daughter of the late Wallace Gardner Temple and Rachel Hoggard Temple. Martha attended high school in Zebulon, N.C. where she was an outstanding student and basketball player. She played women’s basketball for Campbell College. At the time Campbell was a two-year program and she transferred to Atlantic Christian College in Wilson where she received a teaching degree in physical education. Martha used her love for teaching, her talent and her ingenuity to teach the visually impaired at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind, in Raleigh, N.C. Her desire to give her students the same physical education instruction that sighted individuals would experience was well respected.

She married Rolly Bannister (formerly of Mountville, S.C.) in 1961 and Martha set aside her teaching responsibilities at the birth of their first child in 1963. Since that day she devoted her entire life to her husband and her children, putting their needs in front of her own. She was a superior cook and an excellent homemaker. Her greatest love was her family, especially her four grandchildren. Her God-given instinct to teach was ever present, and she spent hours sharing and teaching her grandsons about integrity, responsibility, honesty and respect. Prior to her illness, Martha enjoyed playing bridge with her girlfriends, reading, doing the puzzles in the daily newspaper and watching ACC Basketball. Above all, Martha’s favorite place to be was on the porch with her family at the family lake home on Lake Gaston.

A Graveside Service was held Thursday, April 8 at 11 a.m. at Montlawn Memorial Park. Surviving is her husband of 48 years, Rolly Bannister, Jr.; daughter, Amy Bannister White and her husband, Kyle of Garner; sons, Sonny Bannister of Raleigh and David Bannister and his wife, Dawn of Garner; brother, Gardner Temple and his wife, Dean of Clayton; grandsons, Tyler White, Bryson White, Justin Bannister and John Ryan Bannister.

Visitation was held Wednesday, April 7 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home in Garner. Contributions may be made to The American Cancer Society, 8300 Health Park, Suite 10, Raleigh, NC, 27615.