Martha Bullock Lane

Published 2:58 pm Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Martha “M.T.” Bullock Lane passed at Regional Memorial Hospital on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at age 92. Martha did things her way right up until the end, and she will be remembered for her fierce independence, genuine love of life, and abiding faith in God. She exhibited an accepting and encircling kind of love for people from all walks of life; there was no one she would not meet with a hug and an invitation to “come see her sometime.”

Born in Battery Park, Smithfield VA, Martha was one of five children. She grew up stealing candy from her parents’ country store, playing basketball and forming friendships that would last her entire lifetime. She moved to Richmond in the ‘60’s, became a nurse, owned several senior living homes and was an active member of the business community. She was a charter member and a deaconess of Hillcrest Baptist Church, where she served on many committees and enjoyed singing alto in the choir. Martha retired from Phillip Morris in the late ‘90’s. She spent her later years living in Hanover with her loving husband Cliff at her eldest daughter’s home, enjoying time with family and friends, traveling and going on cruises, eating Krispy Kreme donuts and bacon daily, watching her Sunday morning church programs and singing the old hymns, and living life to the fullest.

She is preceded in death by husbands James L. Bullock and Clifford Lewis Lane, son Melvin Wade Murphy, daughter Lisa Bullock Weatherspoon, son-in-law Stephen Alfred Mann, and stepson Barry G. Lane. She is survived by her children Martha Sue Mann, Norman Dale Murphy (Vicki), Dennis Stuart Bullock (Katharine), and Jamie Love Karabiac (Richard), and son-in-law Kevin Michael Weatherspoon; 16 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 12, 5 – 8 p.m. at Bliley’s Funeral Home Staples Mill. The service will be held on Friday, June 13 at 10 a.m., directly followed by a lunch reception at Hillcrest Baptist Church. The internment will be held at 2 p.m. that day at Westhampton Memorial Park. Memorial donations should be made to In Touch Ministries. Memorial Donations can only be made by calling 1-800-789-1473.