CARMI -- Jack I. Martin, a Carmi businessman and community leader who devoted his life to his family, friends and neighbors, died July 25, 2017, in Newburgh, Indiana. He was 63. The cause of death was a severe brain hemorrhage.
Mr. Martin graduated from Carmi Community High School in 1971 and attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he was president of the Sigma Tau Gama fraternity.
He moved back to Carmi to take over Draper's Store for Men from the late H.G. Draper. When retail men's clothing in small town America proved a difficult business in the late 1980s, he began his banking career at First National Bank of Carmi, and graduated from the American Banking Association's Stonier Graduate School of Banking.
Mr. Martin left First Bank, bought his first pickup truck, and became a partner in Midland Ag Center, where he managed the finances and hauled the occasional anhydrous ammonia tank.
When Midland sold to Crop Production Services, he tried out retirement, but soon found himself back in the banking business at Old National Bank, and was president of the Carmi branch of First Mid-Illinois Bank at his death. He also served as Carmi Township clerk for over 24 years.
Mr. Martin was a committed member of Carmi First United Methodist Church, where he headed various committees and made pickups around town for elderly members on Sunday mornings and for children attending the Wednesday After-School Program.
He also was a member of Carmi Country Club, Carmi Elks Lodge and Carmi Kiwanis Club, and former president of Carmi Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, his peers in the Carmi business community named him Citizen of the Year.
Survivors include his wife of 42 years and high school sweetheart, Sharon Brown Martin; son, John Casey Martin and wife, Katy, and his grandchildren, George Timothy and Peter Thomas Martin of Kansas City, Missouri.
Other survivors include his siblings, Lara (Rick) Carter, Patty Martin and Mike (Amanda) Martin, all of Carmi, and Mary (Jim) Wakefield of Cincinnati, Ohio; mother and father in-law, Harry and Ruth Brown of Ballwin, Missouri; sister and brother in-law, Debra and Jon Gice of Portland, Oregon; and brother-in-law Keith Brown of Manchester, Missouri.
He was blessed with a group of nieces and nephews to whom he was much more than just Uncle Jack, including Josh Carter, Betsy Ingersol, Megan Goff, Cassie Martin, Caroline Martin, Allee Martin, Ashley Wakefield, Conner Wakefield, Devin Wakefield, Brett Watts, Brad Watts, Brian Watts, Lindsey Gice Mottl and Leigh Ruppe.
To list the friends and colleagues Mr. Martin so cherished in his life, and who cherished him, would be an impossible task. His business -- his passion -- was building and maintaining relationships with those he loved and respected.
He was preceded in death by his son, Timothy Brown Martin; and parents, John A. and Hilda Martin.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 30, in Carmi First United Methodist Church. Burial will be in Kuykendall Cemetery in Carmi. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Campbell Funeral Home in Carmi and 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday at the church.
Memorial contributions may be made in Mr. Martin's memory to Carmi First United Methodist Church and will be accepted at the funeral home.
