Carolyn L. Lynn Martin

Carolyn Lynn Martin passed away this week, of natural causes. She spent her last days in the gentle care of Tidewell Hospice House in Bradenton, Florida. She had previously resided in Collins, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Pasadena, California, Sacramento, California, Denver, Colorado, Ballard, Washington, Fairfax, Virginia and Euclid, Ohio. She and her husband retired to Sarasota, Florida in 1990. Her life included a career as a Registered Nurse, a loving wife and mother, seventeen residence moves and a marriage of 55 years. She loved her husband, her family and her country. Her hobbies were history, literature, current events, music, nature, and raising butterflies in her herb garden. She was raised in the Baptist Church, and for her entire life has been close to God and His guidance. She was a beautiful woman who sought and lived in a beautiful world. She was 77 years young.

Carolyn was born in Collins, Georgia on February 5, 1934, one of eleven children born to Daniel Edward Lynn and Kate Collins Lynn. She spent her childhood years as a part of her farm family, working daily in her father’s cotton and tobacco fields, and sharing her boundless energy and love of life with her friends. Upon graduation from high school, she set out for a career in nursing, graduating from St. Joseph’s Hospital training program in Jacksonville, Florida, and completing her internship at the State Hospital at Chattahoochee, Florida. She was employed as a nurse in the Jacksonville, Florida office of two pediatricians. In the spring of 1956, while returning from a visit to her family in Georgia, she met and soon married Thomas Carrillo Martin, of Sarasota, Florida, who had just returned from Korea and had just completed his enlistment in the U.S. Army. They were married at Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia on September 30, 1956—both were 22 years old. Carolyn agreed to follow her husband in his pursuit of a career in entertainment, and they promptly drove out old Route 66 to California. They made their home in Pasadena, California, where their three children, Tamara, Graeme Jones and Erik Hamegren, were born. Carolyn continued her nursing career at the emergency room of Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California. As her husband pursued a theatrical career, and finished college, Carolyn decided to devote full time to her family. Her husband changed his career to law enforcement, as a California State Investigator, followed by a twenty year career as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Carolyn proudly became a part of his FBI career, and devoted herself to his and her family’s future.

Her living example as a career woman and a loving and caring mother and wife inspired her three children to emulate her and to shape their own lives, careers and families. She was a loving, caring person, always aware of the freedoms she had inherited in a wonderful and beautiful country. She looked forward to and enjoyed traveling, and to seeing and discovering our nation’s many beautiful regions.

Her ready smile and great élan reflected her love of life and of all her many friends. She will be sorely missed. Her radiance and natural beauty will dwell in the memories of all who have met her.

Carolyn is survived by her husband of 55 years, Thomas, her three children, Tamara Martin Stewart of Ellicott City, Maryland, Graeme Jones Martin of Houston, Texas, and Erik Hamegren Martin of San Diego, California, and by her eight grandchildren: Connor Wren Stewart, Evangeline Collins Stewart, Brandon Erich Martin, Christian Allen Martin, Cole Austin Martin, Seth Vincent Martin, Margo Grace Martin, and Zachary Trace Martin. She is also survived by five brothers and sisters: Katherine Lynn Bass, Lois Lynn Giebner, Sue Nell Farmer, Gene W. Lynn, C. Lavanda Lynn, and Wendell D. Lynn.

Funeral Services and Interment will be held at Manasota Memorial Park and Funeral Home, Garden of Valor, 1221 53rd Avenue East, Bradenton, Florida 34203. Funeral Services have been scheduled for Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 1:00 PM. Viewing is scheduled for Friday, April 29, 2011 from 5–8:00 PM.