Martha Haas

Martha Austin Haas, 95, of Boone, North Carolina, passed away on May 17, 2026, in the home she had lived in for sixty years. If you are reading this, there is a good chance you knew her — as a teacher at Parkway Elementary School, or as a counselor at Green Valley or the old Watauga High School, or as a fellow member at First Baptist Church of Boone or Boone United Methodist. Or perhaps you simply knew her as a fixture at the Harris-Teeter on Shadowline, where she was a near-daily presence and where the pursuit of an exceptional bargain was, for Martha, something close to a calling.

Born on August 29, 1930, in Bertie County, North Carolina, to Collis Monroe Austin and Roxie McNeil Austin, Martha grew up in Boone, where the mountains would hold her for the rest of her long life. She earned her bachelor’s degree in home economics and science at Appalachian State Teachers College — spending her junior year at Women’s College, now UNC-Greensboro — and went on to serve as the home extension agent for Caldwell County in Lenoir. It was there that she met her future husband: Robert Presnell Haas (Bob to his friends and family).  In 1955 they married, and the two of them returned to Boone in 1965, where they would remain for the rest of their lives.

Martha spent nearly thirty years in Watauga County schools — first as a teacher at Parkway Elementary, then as a guidance counselor at Green Valley School and Watauga High School — after earning her master’s degree in counseling from Appalachian State University in 1971. She had an instinct for teaching and an enthusiasm for young people, coupled with a patience that never seemed to run low. The students who passed through her care were fortunate, and many of them knew it.

Outside of school, Martha was a woman in constant, productive motion. She was an avid gardener and served as president of the Boone Garden Club. She was a gifted seamstress — among her finest achievements, the dinner jacket she made for her husband to wear at the inauguration dinner of Governor James Holshouser in 1973. She always had something going, usually several things at once, and she was never happier than when that energy could be turned to serve the people she loved.

Faith was a quiet and constant presence in Martha’s life. She was a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Boone and, for the last twenty-five years, a devoted attendee of Boone United Methodist Church. In her later years, some of her best days were the ones she spent with her granddaughters Madison and Piper — serving as their nanny, nanna and tutor following their days in grade school. 

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Bob, who died in 2001; her eldest sister, Betty; her twin sister, Mary; and her twin brothers, Collis Austin Jr. and Clyde Austin.

Martha is survived by her two sons, Robert Austin Haas of High Point, a faculty member at High Point University, and John David Haas of Boone, recently retired from a career in information technology at Appalachian State University; her granddaughters, Madison Haas, 23, and Piper Haas, 18, daughters of John; and her siblings, Bill Austin and Minnie Snead.

Her family counts itself among the lucky ones — to have had so many years with her, to have been the recipients of so much of her care and attention and love.  A private graveside service will take place Wednesday morning, and then the family will celebrate her life at her home beginning at one o’clock Wednesday afternoon.  Friends should come by for food and fellowship.  In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial contributions to the Daniel Boone Gardens or a charity of your choice in Martha's memory.

Family will receive friends on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at Austin & Barnes Funeral Home and Crematory. Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 11:00am at Mount Lawn Cemetery. 

Austin & Barnes Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the Haas family.

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