Johnnie Edward (Eddie) Martin III

Johnnie Edward Martin III, 78, a resident of Washington, NC, passed away at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, NC, on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, April 24, 2023 at Joseph B. Paul Jr. Funeral Service at 11:00am.

Eddie was born to the late Johnnie Edward Martin Jr. and Margaret Ramsey. Along with his parents he is preceded in death by a son: Gary Wayne Martin. He is survived by his wife of more than three decades: Sandy Martin; two sons: Johnnie Edward Martin IV and wife Susan of Belvoir, NC, Bobbie Martin and wife Jennifer of South Carolina; a daughter: Barbie Martin of Faison, NC; two sisters: Barbara Williams of Greenville, NC; Margie Hathaway of Charlotte, NC; ten grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three nephews.

Anyone that knew Eddie Martin, knew that he was opinionated and frustratingly honest about his beliefs, whether it was something about the Bible, politics, work, cooking and every other thing. He had a T-Shirt that read “Annoying the world, one person at the time”. He loved that. He was like sandpaper to many, but most of those people will come back and tell you that the sandpaper smoothed out their edges and made everything better. He had more common sense than all of Washington, DC. He was always running into issues with educated people working on something and he immediately saw the simple answer using common sense. But that was a God-given talent, and he knew it. It still ruffled feathers.

Eddie was an artist –sketching beautiful pictures. He was a carpenter. He was a musician and played drums in “Black and White Soul” at the original Buccaneer in Greenville NC in the early 70’s. ECU students sent out a petition to keep them at the Buccaneer when the owner wanted to rotate and send them out on the road. It worked. They remained the house band for three years. Many years later, he played in the church on the worship team for 14 years. He would say he was now “playing for the right side.”

He was a DJ for several years and could read the room, knowing what music to play to keep everyone dancing. He skillfully rode horses, ice skated, waterskied, and danced! He was the “King of Shag” and was smooth as silk. He could even throw in a moonwalk and not miss a beat. He taught many to shag and stressed to them to just have fun. He taught people that later became winners at the top on the shagging circuit contests.

He was a skilled machinist and tool and die maker and worked at Mid-Atlantic Hydraulics for twenty years. He was a problem solver and could design and build whatever he wanted or was needed -whether it was out of wood or steel.

He used to love to hunt ducks, but in his later years, just didn’t want to kill anything. He loved fishing and boating and cars, cars, cars, and music and even while in the hospital he told the nurses the long version of his love story with his wife of 34 years.

He would tell you that he confirmed his reservation to be with the Lord and that you should do the same. He loved to laugh and tell stories and he loved his cats. He would stop and help anyone in trouble.

He made his wife laugh all the time because with her alone he was silly and they even had their own language and pet names. He loved his sisters and his children and marveled at his grandchildren’s achievements.

He was a lifetime Pirate fan. He would watch a game and then he and his sister Barbara would talk on the phone about statistics and players for an hour. He watched the ECU baseball game on his phone the night before he died.

He is leaving a serious hole in our lives and our tears are for us….because he has finished his race and he won. He would be saying right about now, “I told you so.”

Joseph B. Paul Jr. Funeral Service is honored to assist the Martin family.