WAKEFIELD — Bobby Ray Martin, 73, a longtime resident of Carrollton, Va., passed away Tuesday, June 1, 2010. Bobby was born in Newbern, N.C., the son of the late Theodore and Agnes Tyndall Martin. Bobby was a charter member of the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 36. He was chairman of the Wetlands Board of Isle of Wight County during the early 1970s and was a past member of the Carrollton Ruritan Club.
For some 13 years, Bobby worked on the submarine crew, sheet metal department of Newport News Shipbuilding. He will be best remembered as owner/operator of Martin’s Grocery in Carrollton. He retired from Sentry Food Mart as a buyer in 2004.
Bobby was an outdoorsman extraordinaire. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and an honorary member of Orbit Hunt Club and a member of Ivor Hunt Club. He was a passionate and avid golfer and was a member of the Elizabeth Manor Country Club, and the Cypress Cove Country Club. During the 1960s to 1980s, Bobby traveled with the Pinehurst Association, for an annual event, playing golf on courses in the Pinehurst, N.C. area.
With a love for church and family, Bobby was a member of Tucker Swamp Baptist Church, Ivor, and a member of the Missions Possible Sunday school class.
In addition to his father and mother, Bobby is preceded in death by his stepfather, Raymond “Doc” Hollowell. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Shirley C. Martin; two sons, Michael Ray Martin, of Bedford County, Va., and Lloyd Keith Martin and his wife, Susan, of Roanoke, Va.; four grandchildren, Tara Michelle Turner, Danielle Ray Martin, Lloyd Keith Martin Jr., and his wife, Jennifer, and Kristie Marie Shuler; three great-grandchildren; his sister, Eleanor Gray Spady and her husband, Bruce R., of Smithfield, an “adopted daughter,” Bridgett Games; and a host of nieces and nephews, and extended family members.
A service celebrating Bobby’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, June 4, in Tucker Swamp Baptist Church with Pastor Bill Dawson and the Rev. Cecil Jones officiating. Burial will follow in St. Luke’s Memorial Park. Family and friends will gather from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in Colonial Funeral Home.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Tucker Swamp Baptist Church, 37527 Seacock Chapel Road, Zuni, VA 23878.
Arrangements are in the care of Colonial Funeral Home, Smithfield.