Joan Gayle Martin

Service: 2 p.m. Friday at Moore Funeral Home South Chapel, 1219 N. Davis Dr., Arlington, 76012. Visitation will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Joan was born in Ector, Texas on April 8, 1940 to Spurgeon C. Reynolds and Evelyn P. Anderson Reynolds. Her early years were spent in Northeast Texas in the Bonham area before the family moved to Dallas and then Grand Prairie in the mid-1950’s.

Joan’s family were founding members of Inglewood Baptist Church and she was later a member of First Baptist Church, Grand Prairie.

She was a loving mother and fierce defender of her children throughout her life and was known to take a teacher or two to task throughout the years.

Joan was an accomplished artist and jewelry maker, participating in many exhibitions throughout the country. She loved traveling the world and had a particular fondness for Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her life-long friends held a special place in her heart and she greatly cherished their loving care.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Paul Martin; life companion, Luey Waldon; and recently, her brother, Larry Reynolds, of Leonard, Texas.

Survivors: son, Todd Martin of Tyler; daughter, Lezlee Martin Liljenberg and husband, Magnus, of Arlington; granddaughter, Marygayle Martin Radley and husband, Timothy, of Petersburg, Virginia; grandson, Ross Ballard Martin of Tyler; step-daughter, Wendy Martin of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and many cousins and loving friends in the local area.