Louis David Martin, Jr. 73, departed this earthly life on the morning of May 25, 2023,
at Wesley Long Hospital. He was the oldest of six children born August 11, 1949, to the late
Louis and Florence Martin, in Eden, North Carolina.
Louis graduated from Southside High School in Pennsylvania County, Va. After working
for a period of time after high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Airforce and was honorably
discharged after four years of service.
Louis then moved to Greensboro and was hired by the Greensboro Fire Department in
1974 as a Firefighter I. Once hired, Louis went on to earn the Associate in Applied Science in
Fire Sciences degree in 1978 from what is now known as Guilford Technical Community
College. He retired from the Fire Department in 2006 with the rank of Captain.
Not long after joining the Fire Department, Louis met his future wife Wanda. They were
married on August 21, 1976. Soon after their marriage, Louis and Wanda established from their
home in 1976 what has become Martin Janitorial Services. It was Louis’s vision to be an
entrepreneur so that he could pass their business to their sons. Their business has been blessed.
Over the years, the business grew from smaller contracts servicing commercial office buildings
to larger corporate contracts today.
Celebrating his life are wife Wanda Martin, sons David Durand Martin and Louis Demar
Martin, sisters Linda Choate, Deborah Carlton (Donnell), and Charlene Martin (Alfred), and
brothers Tony Martin, and Everette Martin. He also is survived by sisters-in law D. Parthenia
Cogdell, Eutean Redding (Aubrey), and Gloria Kaye Eldridge; and brother-in-law Dwight
Cogdell. Additional survivors include a special aunt, Pearl Adams, and a host of nieces,
nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.
Services for Louis will be held on Friday, June 2, at Ebenezer Baptist Church,
2700 West Vandalia Road, Greensboro, NC., with the Rev. Dr. Howard L. Woods, Jr., pastor,
officiating. The family will receive friends at noon. The service will follow at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a contribution in Louis’s memory be made to
the Salvation Army, 1001 Freeman Mill Road, Greensboro, NC, 27406, attention: Jackie Lucas.
Brown’s Funeral Home is assisting the Martin family.