Kayla Marie Martin

Kayla was born at Kaweah Delta Hospital to Kevin and Carrie Martin on June 3, 1988. She was born the middle child between older brother, Kelley and younger brother, Kody. Kayla also has a much younger brother, Kolemore Martin.

Growing up, Kayla attended Crowley Elementary School, Valley Oak Middle School, and Golden West High School. She graduated in 2006. She attended College of the Sequoias for a brief period of time.

Kayla loved to play sports – she participated in NJB basketball and youth soccer. She continued to play soccer during her four years at Golden West where she also participated in cross country and track.

Kayla was a talented and gifted young lady. She inherited a beautiful singing voice from her mother, Carrie. She was a member of the Golden West choir and participated in three musicals, Music Man, 42nd Street, and Les Misérables. She had future plans to attend the release of the move, Wicked.

Kayla held several jobs over the years. She worked at McDonald’s, Subway, Panera, was a clerk at a local hotel, and for the past two years, she was a checker at Costco. I would like to thank Costco for the tremendous amount of support they provided to Kayla. At each of these jobs, the common denominator was that Kayla was an excellent worker. Everyone loved working with her.

Kayla’s life was filled with many interesting and anecdotal events with her family. Soon after my new house was built, Kayla was house sitting for me while I was at work away from home. When I returned home, I could see that things just weren’t quite the way I had left them. While taking out the trash, I noticed it was full of empty bottles that should not have been there. She indicated the neighbor down the street must have come by and dumped them in there. I wasn’t born yesterday. It took a year, but she finally told me the truth. We later laughed about the story.

Other events involved her driving – some people in life maybe should not drive a motor vehicle. I told Kayla she was one of them. During her young life, she was involved in nine car accidents! The most memorable was when she, with me in the car, totaled her mother’s minivan. At that time, Kayla had just gotten her driving permit. We borrowed her mom’s van to practice driving in the cemetery. She asked if she could drive to visit Papa Roland and Grandma Dona. I felt fairly safe with her driving the few short blocks to their house. Upon approaching the house, I told Kayla to turn into the front drive. She didn’t turn; she didn’t brake. She ran into a tree in the front of their house. When I asked her why she didn’t turn, she said she didn’t want to hit Tar Baby. Tar Baby was her grandparent’s old cat, who was already flirting with his 9th life!

After hitting the tree, both airbags deployed; the horn was honking; fluid was gushing from the radiator, neighbors were running out of their houses to see what was going on. Needless to say, the old blue minivan had made its last voyage……. but Tar Baby was alive to see another day, and the tree at Dad and Mom’s old house still bears the scars.

While young, Kayla attended Gateway Church. During her adult years, she attended various churches. She loved the Lord and leaned on Him during the many challenges of her young life. She always gave Him the glory for her successes. Through Him, she was an encouragement to many.

Kayla was preceded in death by her mother, Carrie, her paternal grandparents, Roland and Dona, and her maternal grandmother, Mary Sepeda. She is survived by her father, three brothers and her seventeen-year-old daughter, Jaelyn Sanchez. Kayla also leaves many aunts, uncles, and cousins from the Martin and Sepeda families.

Many, many people will miss Kayla because of the positive impact she had on their lives. She always had a kind word and a bright smile for all she met. If only she could have given up trying to catch the dragon……. So sad, so young.

Graveside services will be held on November 30th at 11:00 at the Visalia Public Cemetery.

A memorial service will be held at Tulare Community Church at 11:30 on December 5th.