Sarah Leathers Martin

Sarah Leathers Martin died on Monday, July 19 in Atlanta.

Sarah was born on March 18, 1932, and grew up in Decatur, Georgia. She was an Assistant Professor of Music/Organ at Georgia State University, an organ performer, a church organist at many churches in the Atlanta area, and a piano and organ teacher since 1951. She devoted her life to teaching and performing music and considered herself to be a lifelong learner.

Sarah began playing the organ when she was about 15 years old when the organist at her church, Oakhurst Baptist, would let her practice on the Hammond organ there. The organ had a 2-octave pedal board, and she and the organist would play organ and piano duets that she and her husband, Gene, would eventually play together.

She graduated from Decatur Girls High in 1949 and Agnes Scott college in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music with Honor. She entered college with the intention of majoring in Latin. At the end of her first year in college after taking piano that year, she decided to major in church music instead and began organ lessons her second year of college with Dr. Ray Martin at Agnes Scott. She reported that her repertoire up to that point consisted of “At the Console.” She was conferred a Master of Music in organ performance from Emory University in 1994 and held certificates for study from the Italian Organ Academy, in Pistoia Italy, and from the French Organ Institute in Souvigny and Lyon, France.

She was hired as an organist at Oakhurst Baptist before her second year of college and returned there as organist many years later. After attending the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY, for one year in pursuit of a master’s degree, she married her husband, Gene Martin, in 1954. Together, Sarah and Gene served as the Minister of Music and Organist team for several churches over a period of 43 years, including First Baptist Church of College Park, Druid Hills Baptist Church, and Oakhurst Baptist, and they served in extended interim positions at Covenant Presbyterian, Holy Trinity Episcopal, Morningside Presbyterian, Rivercliff Lutheran, North Decatur Presbyterian, and Epiphany Episcopal churches.

Very recently, Sarah expressed that the two highlights of her own music education were, first, in 1975 when she traveled to Pistoia, Italy, to study early Italian organ music at the Italian Organ Academy under Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and meeting her great friend, teacher and mentor, Umberto Pineschi. She greatly cherished her long friendship with Umberto, and they frequently worked together on translations and transcriptions. The second highlight for her was the ability to obtain her Master’s Degree from Emory University.

Sarah has been recognized nationally and internationally for her contributions to music education/pedagogy and to the profession. As an educator, she devoted countless hours to teaching her students and to learning about teaching and about the music she was teaching, which she passed on to her students. Many have said that studying with her, being mentored by her, even just knowing her positively changed the course, trajectory, and career paths of many lives. Discipline, drive, and determination informed her teaching, and she instilled those same qualities in her students, family, and friends. Her success as an educator is evidenced by the success of her students who won national and international competitions, were accepted to auspicious music conservatories and universities, and landed impressive positions which include professorships at renowned music institutions, esteemed church organists, in-demand performers, school music directors, marching band show designers, and even in non-music careers to include broadcast journalism, law, medicine, and finance.

Former student Alan Morrison, now Chair of the Organ Department at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music, wrote, “In summary, Sarah Martin exemplifies what it means to be a successful professional. Not only has she maintained a performing career both in the USA and abroad, she has been first and foremost a reputable teacher AND scholar and has dedicated her skills in service for others and her community, inspiring all who benefit from her wisdom, integrity, work ethic and grace.” And another former student, Daniel Brondel, now organist at the famed Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, wrote of Sarah, “Studying organ with her changed the course of my life and career, and her exemplary mentorship, best practices, ethics and vision are without a doubt the fundamental reasons I have succeeded in this field beyond my wildest dreams.”

Sarah also contributed much time and effort to the profession. She was an active member of the American Guild of Organists on the local and national levels. She served as the Dean of the Atlanta Chapter of the AGO from 1984 to 1986, she was the general coordinator of the 1992 AGO National Convention consisting of over two thousand registrants, she served as the Secretary for the Regional AGO Convention committee in 2007, and she served on several AGO national and local committees. In a presentation she gave in 2004 to the Atlanta chapter of the AGO, she related that when she returned to Georgia in 1955 and lived in Cleveland, Georgia, with husband Gene, she joined the Atlanta Chapter and commuted from Cleveland to the meetings. In that speech, she attested that “being a member of the AGO is really a professional obligation. But beyond that, AGO has so much more to offer: excellent programs, professional guidelines and advice, and probably the most important-genuine friendships.”

Beloved teacher, respected performer, exemplary professional, and trusted friend, Sarah’s death will impact many. Sarah lived a life of style, elegance, and grace driven by beauty and truth. She kept the following quote on her desk, which wonderfully captures her view of her role in the world:

“The Arts are not simply skills: their concern is the intellectual, ethical and spiritual maturity of human life. And in a time when religious and political institutions may lose their visions of human dignity, they are the custodians of those values which most worthily define humanity, which most sensitively define Divinity, and, in fact, may prove to be the only workable Program of Conservation for the human race on the planet.”

--Robert Shaw

Sarah is survived by her husband, Kenneth Eugene Martin of Atlanta, daughter Sylvia Martin Estes, son-in-law Doug Estes, and grandsons Philip Estes and David Estes of Vienna, Virginia, brother Jim Leathers of Charlotte, North Carolina, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Sarah’s funeral arrangements are as follows:

Thursday, August 12, 5:00-8:30 pm: visitation at A.S. Turner & Sons

2773 N Decatur Rd Decatur, GA 30033.

Friday, August 13, 2:00 pm: funeral service at St. Luke's Episcopal Church

435 Peachtree St NE Atlanta, GA 30308.

Graveside service following the funeral at Decatur Cemetery

229 Bell St Decatur, GA 30030.

Reception after Graveside service at Martin home

1293 Oakdale Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30307



Donations may be made in her honor to the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists general fund: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=RXS8LA4VGHJQQ