Emma L. Martin Oswald

Emma L. Martin Oswald (77) On June 13, 2023, the world lost a shining light when Emma was called to rest with the angels. Emma (Lou, if you were from South Pittsburg, TN) was born in South Pittsburg TN on July 4th, 1945 to parents Thomas A and Lenabel (Norman) Martin. Emma was a smart and beautiful girl with bright blue eyes. She excelled academically and graduated class valedictorian from South Pittsburg High School in 1963. She went on to graduate from Tennessee Wesleyan College with majors in both mathematics and education and finished her master’s degree in special education at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College. She moved shortly after to Winter Haven, Florida and worked in the mental health field. It was there she met the love of her life and her future husband, Frederick Oswald. She was his ballroom dance student, and they saw a beautiful future together. They married in 1975, and in 1976 had their son, Kristopher Martin Oswald. She loved dance so much that she left the mental health field and joined her husband teaching ballroom dance and co-owning the Elan Dance Theater. In 1980 they won the prestigious Atlanta Star Ballroom Championship. As the years went by, she became the event coordinator for many of the greatest ballroom dance championships and in 2017 was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. She was highly respected in the ballroom dance industry, and she had many friends she considered family. Emma enjoyed genealogy and was always researching her family ancestry. She researched and wrote the book ‘The Family Tree for the Children of Thomas Anderson and Lenabel (Norman) Martin’, as well as co-authored the book, “Martin Cousins”. She enjoyed being at home and working on her computer with her two King Charles Spaniels, Copper and Oreo at her feet. Emma was the kindest and most compassionate soul. She touched so many people with her love and goodness. She will be deeply missed by so many. Emma leaves behind her grieving husband, Frederick K. Oswald, her son, Kristopher M. Oswald, a grandson, Kristopher M. Oswald Jr., a sister, Lena Katheryn (Tippy) Adams, a brother, Thomas (Woody) and his wife Kathryn Martin, and a sister-in-law, Lisa A. Oswald. She leaves behind nieces, and nephews. grandnieces and grandnephews all of whom she loved dearly. She is preceded in death by her grandparents and by her father, Thomas Anderson Martin and her mother, Lenabel Norman Martin, and two brothers, David Thorton Martin, and William Benton Martin and brother-in-law Virgil Adams and several beloved nieces and nephews. The honor of carrying her to her final resting place is bestowed on her nephews that she looked at and loved as though they were her sons: Peter Oswald, Gabriel Davis, David Smith, Daniel Poche, and great nephews Alex Adams and Chris Martin. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. (CDT) at the South Pittsburg Chapel of Rogers Funeral Home.

Emma L. Martin Oswald

July 4, 1945 - June 13, 2023