Gregory William Martin

Gregory "Greg" William Martin, 59, of Green Cove Springs, FL passed away November 24, 2024. He was born April 12, 1965 in Portage, WI to the late William Joseph Martin and Martha Jean (Lofland) Martin. Greg was a 1983 graduate of Orange Park High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1987 from the University of North Florida and his Master of Public Administration in 1989. Greg started his teaching career at Sylvan Learning Center and in 2005, his lifelong path with Clay County School System as one of the inaugural teachers at Lake Asbury Junior High School. Greg was also one of the inaugural teachers at Oakleaf High School when it opened 14 years ago and was awarded Teacher of the Year that first year. During his tenure at Oakleaf, he taught US History, World History and US Government in the Cambridge AICE program. Besides teaching, Greg was the sponsor of Model U.N. Club, head coach of the boys' and girls' tennis teams, head coach of the academic team and score keeper for many of the Oakleaf sports teams. With his passion for teaching and love for travel, Greg was the group leader for the past several years of Oakleaf's Spring Break European trips where the students were able to learn firsthand about the countries and their cultures that he shared with them in his classes.
Greg loved spending time with his family, whether it be a day at Disney, on vacations or family events at home or Alabama, Tennessee or Ohio. He loved going to baseball games, especially Cincinnati Reds and Dayton Dragons, as these were his favorite teams, and Greg was a diehard Wisconsin Badgers fan! He shared his love of trivia with family, friends and students by attending many trivia nights and was an avid collector of all things Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang. To know Greg was to love him as he never knew a stranger and his sincere smile would brighten any person's mood. He will forever be remembered as a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather, teacher and friend, who will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
Greg is survived by his best friend and wife, Jennifer Fritz Martin; children, Catherine Martin (Brian Coppock) and Timothy Martin (Citlalli Ugarte); siblings, Cynthia Martin and Jeffrey Martin (Chrissy); granddaughters or as he called them, "my girls", Isabella Coppock and Eliana Coppock with many other loving aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in laws, students and friends.
A visitation will be held from 5:00pm until 7:00pm, Tuesday, December 3, 2024 in the Jacksonville Memory Gardens Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 11:00am, Wednesday, December 4, 2024 with burial to follow the service. The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Greg's name to Oakleaf High School to help with academic clubs.