Sara Joyce Martin

Sara “Joyce” Roberts Martin, 82, of Conyers, died Friday, December 7, 2012. Born in Atlanta on May 25, 1930, she grew up in Canton, Georgia, the daughter of the late Griffin Roberts and Sara Hudson Roberts. She attended high school in Asheville, NC and attended college at Wesleyan College in Macon and the University of Georgia in Athens, from which she graduated. In 1952, she took a position with the U.S. State Department in Austria interviewing refugees who had fled from countries behind the Iron Curtain. It was there that she met her husband of over 50 years, the late John J. (“Marty”) Martin, then a Captain in the U.S. Army. The couple returned to the states in 1955. After Marty’s retirement from the U.S. Army in 1960, Joyce worked as a high school teacher at Cherokee County High School and later worked for the Internal Revenue Service at its Service Center in Atlanta where she was employed for close to 30 years. When their children had grown, Joyce and Marty traveled to China, Ireland and Scandinavia, and took numerous trips in the United States to see life-long friends from their "Army days." After retirement, Joyce and Marty moved to Conyers to be near family. At the time of her death, she resided at the Remington House in Conyers. Joyce loved her family and always put their needs above her own. She loved swimming, bridge, playing piano and listening to classical music. She was an avid reader with a particular interest in American military history and biographies. She is survived by her three children, John Joseph (Sean) Martin, Jr., and his wife, Holly, Conyers; Margaret Martin, Stone Mountain; and Patrick “Griffin” Martin, Chamblee; her brother, Lamar Roberts, and his wife, Shirley, Atlanta; grandchildren, Tyler C. Martin and his wife, Lauren, Charleston, SC; and Shelley J. Martin, Conyers; two nieces and a nephew. A Memorial Service will be held at Scot Ward's Green Meadow Chapel at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 14, with Visitation preceding the service from 10:00 to 11:00. Scot Ward Funeral Services, 699 American Legion Rd., Conyers, GA 30012, 770-483-7216

Sara Joyce Martin

May 25, 1930 - December 7, 2012