Roland Robert Martens

He was born on January 23rd, 1931, in Oak Park, Illinois to Margaret Carolyn Hessler and Roland Henry Martens. The family moved to Vero Beach, Florida in 1937 when he was 6.

Roland graduated from Vero Beach High School in 1949 and then joined the Army in 1951 where he proudly served in the Korean War. He went on to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida and his Doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University.

He was married to Gwendolyn Lucille Pace on February 3rd, 1956, sharing 68 years together.

After his military service and subsequent graduation from college, he enjoyed a lifelong career in education and mental health counseling. He first became a civics teacher at Tyrone Middle School and went on to spend the next 35 years with St Petersburg College (formerly St. Petersburg Junior College, also known as “JC” to locals) as an academic and career counselor. Throughout that time, he took on several other roles at the college as well, but his passion was counseling students and guiding them through the successful pursuit of their career dreams. In 2011, after retirement, he was awarded the prestigious “Professor Emeritus” award, a great honor for him.

He was an active member of Pasadena Community (Methodist) Church and served on the Boards for the Network of Christian Counselors and Jungle Terrace Neighborhood Association. He loved cars, especially Fords, and was a member of both the Pinellas Model A Restorers Club (Pin Mar), and the Suncoast Mustang Club. Following his love of Pinellas County history and the outdoors, he was also an active member of the St. Petersburg History Museum, the Pinellas, St. Petersburg and Seminole Historical Societies, the Native Plant Society, the Council of Neighborhood Associations, the Sunshine Senior Center, the Audubon and Bromeliad Societies, to name a few.

He is survived by his wife, Gwen, his son, Roland Corbett “Cory” Martens, daughter Charmaine “Charm” Callahan (husband Mark), 3 step grandchildren, a step great-granddaughter, his brother, James B. Martens, sister-in-law's Carolyn and Joyce, and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at Pasadena Community Church on Saturday, February 24th at 1 pm in and he will be laid to rest at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida on Monday, February 26th at 1 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Roland can be made to

Tunnel to Towers, t2t.org, or SPCA Tampa Bay, https://spcatampabay.org/donate