KURE BEACH — Patricia Martin, age 61, of Kure Beach, NC died unexpectedly and far too young on October 7, 2023.
Pat was born in Bridgeport, CT, to Mary Etta (Gleckler) Martin and Charles Patrick Martin. She attended St. Joseph HS in Trumbull, CT, and graduated from Bryant College in Smithfield, RI, where she met lifelong friends and enjoyed college life to its fullest.
For 33 years, including overlapping periods with her father, brother, and niece, Pat had a successful and rewarding Finance career at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, CT. She and her Dad both liked to share the story of traveling together on a business trip and helping to bring back a multi-million-dollar contract. During these years at Sikorsky, she was known as a mentor, a coach, a role model, a friend, and a competitive athlete in co-ed leagues. Her professional success provided her with the ability to achieve her lifelong goal of an early retirement on a North Carolina beach where she was the happiest.
Pat’s warm personality, welcoming nature, and her passion for cooking for others (no one made a better shrimp scampi) always made her home a place of happiness, laughter, and love. Holiday dinners, backyard cookouts, family reunions and the bomb shelter in her basement were all experiences that we survived and will always cherish. Whether it be taking nieces and nephews on camping trips, siblings to Alaska, sharing Martha’s Vineyard vacations, trips to NYC, or visiting friends and family across the country, Pat’s selfless, generous heart always shined through.
But she wasn’t always this way — when growing up with her 6 siblings she was known as a quiet instigator of trouble successfully avoiding her parents’ wrath while deflecting the punishment to one of the others that were not so quiet.
Pat had a passion of outdoor activities throughout her life – some of them fleeting – whether it be her scooter (she called it a motorcycle), cross country skiing, mountain biking, white water rafting, kayaking, softball, pickleball, UCONN basketball (where she often traveled with Norm and Genny to the Final Fours), traveling, watching sunsets, or most of all, walking her dog, Keysha, on the beach.
Pat was preceded in death by her parents and her special, black Labrador, BD. She is survived by all of us: her sister, Cathy Prespentt and husband, Vincent, of Farmington, NM; her brother, Chuck Martin and wife, Julie, of East Lyme, CT; her sister Maureen Martin-Riggsbee of Kure Beach, her brother, Tim Martin and his wife, Maria, of Plano, TX; her sister, Theresa O’Callaghan and her husband, Pete, of South Glastonbury, CT; her brother, Michael Martin and his wife, Sharon, of Seymour, CT; her good friends, Genny and Norm Stine of Seymour CT; 16 nieces and nephews, her grandniece, her Uncle Calvin, and many cousins that she always looked forward to visiting, laughing and sharing family stories.
Pat never met a stranger. She was loved and will be missed by many every day.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in her memory directly to ASPCA.org.
