Lonnie Benjamin Martin

Lonnie was born on March 3, 1955, in Stuttgart, Arkansas, to the late Rev. W.L. Martin, Sr. and Daisy Elizabeth Knight Martin. He was the 3rd child and the first son born to this union.

The Martin family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, when Lonnie was 5 years old, where his father, W.L. Martin, Sr., had accepted a call to pastor at Mount Harmony Missionary Baptist Church.

Lonnie attended church at Mount Harmony and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior at an early age. He attended Indiana Elementary School, then Southeast High School, graduating from Pine Bluff High School in 1973.

Upon graduation, he was accepted into higher education at Houston Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a minor in Government.

Lonnie was active in social and economic advancement for his community, family, and friends. Early in his career, he sought organizations that embodied the values of education, economics, politics, and social justice; therefore, in 1975, he was inducted into his beloved Fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, and also continued to serve faithfully in other community groups.

In 1976, after accepting a position at JCPenney as Department Manager, he moved to Alexandria, LA. There, he met the love of his life and beautiful wife, Helen Carter, and was married for 48 years. Later, he was transferred to Shreveport, LA, as Department Manager, where Lonnie and Helen continued to build their family together. 

In 1987, Lonnie and his family relocated to Murphy, Texas, where he was promoted to the JCPenney Corporate Office as a Senior Buyer and stayed for 20 years. Lonnie was the mastermind who excelled in JCPenney's Urban Wear clothing line and forged opportunities for many new distributors. After leaving JCPenney, Lonnie became an Independent Consultant and created a unique space in the apparel merchandising industry, amplifying his master skills as a negotiator, small business entrepreneur, and marketeer.

Lonnie and his family are members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, Plano, Texas. In 1995, he also became a tentative Southeast Arlington Community Church member for one year to provide financial and numerical support to a new start church.

Lonnie was an avid traveler – especially cruising the Caribbean islands with his wife and children. He also traveled across the United States and as a Corporate Senior Buyer at JC Penney, he frequently traveled to several European and Asian countries.

Lonnie's hobbies included hunting, fishing, being a self-proclaimed smokehouse chef, and golfing. One of his favorite hobbies was watching his all-time team – the Dallas Cowboys. He loved to stir the pot when discussing other teams outside the Cowboys, causing many late-night debates.

Lonnie's second favorite was planning and spending time with his family and siblings, going on various vacations, and having fantastic family reunions. 

Leaving to cherish his memory are his wife, Helen Lee Martin; daughter, Rosalyn Ude, sons Adrian Wells and Brandon Benjamin (Melissa) Martin; grandsons, Carter and Anderson Martin; and other grandchildren (Jasmine, James, Jayla, Zaylia, and Zariah), brother, Will (Cheryl) Martin, Jr. (Woodbridge, VA), four sisters; Renee (Michael) Hill (Auburn, WA), Marietta (Oliver) Allen, (Manassas, VA), Marilyn Henderson (Lawrenceville, GA) and Salie Johnson (Lawrenceville, GA).

Special Friends: Alvin McCrainey (Big Al) and Asmus Potts.

Preceding him in death are his parents, Rev. W.L. Martin, Sr; Daisy Elizabeth Martin; brother, Sterling Martin, Sr.; three sisters, Toby Rodriguez, Vivian Ann Shelly, and Evelyn Marie Owens; nephew, Brian Donquell Owens.

In addition, he leaves a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and many friends.

We will remember Lonnie as being a person bigger than life. He always had an opinion (and somehow, it was always right and became Facts) - and when he entered a room, his presence was felt. 

In November of 2023, Lonnie invited his siblings and their family to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family here in Texas. Everyone attended, and it was a beautiful and memorable time. Little did we know it would be our last year to celebrate with him.

His family and friends shall greatly miss him.

Rest in peace, my dear husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend!

Your race is run….