Martha St. John Vaughan passed away at the English Cottage Personal Care Home in Oak Ridge, Texas, on May 30, 2023.  She was 94. The cause of death was complications related to hip replacement surgery after a fall at her home on April 26th.

Mrs. Vaughan was preceded in death by her two sisters, Blanche Billingslea and Ruth Moon; her brother, Robert St. John; and her husband, Robert L. “Bobby” Vaughan. She is survived by a son, Robert Lee Vaughan, Jr.; and two granddaughters, Sarah, and Lora Vaughan, of The Woodlands, Texas.

The deceased was born in Holmes County, Mississippi, and grew up in Claiborne County, Mississippi, where she spent most of her life. A Port Gibson High School graduate, she represented the city in the statewide Miss Hospitality contest in 1952. In 1953, she married Bobby Vaughan and worked as a bookkeeper for their two businesses, Vaughan Milling Company, and Port Gibson Lumber Company, until retiring in 1990. In 2012, she sold her home near Port Gibson and moved to The Forum Independent Living Community in The Woodlands, Texas, to be near her son and his family. 

In her long life, Mrs. Vaughan enjoyed deer hunting, gardening, cooking, entertaining, raising award-winning camellias, and spending time with friends and family. She was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson and was active in Bible studies until the end. One of her few regrets was that she outlived so many of her friends and family. She missed them greatly, and in turn, many will miss her.

Mrs. Vaughan’s ashes will be interred at Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson. Funeral services will be announced at a future date.

Memorials can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson, Mississippi.