James Robert Martin

James “Jim” Martin, age 77, of Crestview, Florida lost his fight with COVID March 18, 2021 at North Okaloosa Medical Center.

Jim was born November 24, 1943 in Muscatine, Iowa. He attended Woodruff High School and Bradley University, both in Peoria, Illinois. While attending Bradley he met Joanne McCreight through a blind date.  While they dated, and in the early years of their marriage, he played trumpet in various bands and they attended dances regularly.  They were married for 55 wonderful years.  Jim loved Ham Radio since the age of 13 (K9QKA, NM0Q, and then W0LY), he taught morse code for years, and enjoyed sharing his love for amateur radio. He worked for IBM as a programmer, then at Lakeview Technology as a programming instructor, and later at Jack Henry, also as a programming instructor.  He would start every class with a story at the beginning of the day and after the lunch break.  He was an avid storyteller who never missed an opportunity to tell another story. In addition to all of this, he also authored several books about programming.

Jim is survived by the love of his life, Joanne “Jody” Martin; two children, Keryl Cruickshank (Shane) of Crestview, Florida and Russ Owens (James) of Barry, Illinois, his sister, Bonnie Palmer (Ron) of Des Moines, Iowa; ten grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. 

He is preceded in death by his parents; and his sister Brenda.

Visitation will take place Saturday, March 27, 2021 at 9 a.m. at Davis-Watkins Funeral Home in Crestview, Florida.  The funeral will immediately follow at 10 a.m. Interment will be at Live Oak Cemetery in Crestview. For COVID safety precautions, masks will be required and we will have zoom attendance available.

Arrangements and services are all under the direction of Davis-Watkins Funeral Home.

To share memories, express condolences, tell a story or sign the guestbook please visit, www.daviswatkins.com.

To access service through zoom, utilize the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4703357696?pwd=OWRtaUI0QzUvdDVvRTA2Tkh6ZXRGUT09

Meeting ID: 470 335 7696
Passcode: 5ZexTg