By Jack Brammer

Kentucky Lantern

Martha Layne Collins, who as the only woman to serve as governor of Kentucky revolutionized the state’s economy by landing Toyota Motor Manufacturing, died at 3 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, in Lexington. She was 88.

Her husband, Dr. Bill Collins, said his wife died in her sleep at Richmond Place, a retirement community in Lexington where they have been living.

“I was with her. We had a lady for hospice, and caregivers came in and out. She died peacefully. She lived a remarkable life,” he said.

Her remarkable life began with her birth in Shelby County on Dec. 7, 1936. She served as governor from 1983 to 1987, when Kentucky governors were limited to one term. She was only the third woman in U.S. history to be elected governor of a state in her own right.

Col

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