In Memory . . . Thomas W. Martin
 (1947-2008)

Dr. Thomas Wallace Martin.  He died suddenly on Sept. 7, 2008, at the Metro West Medical Center in Natick, Massachusetts. He was 61 years old.

Dr. Martin was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 31, 1947, to William and Anna Martin.  He lived in Smithfield, Virginia, near his grandparents’ farm.  Growing up near the farm imbued him with a reverence and respect for nature and animals, which he sustained throughout his life. 

He graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1971 with a BA in Philosophy and from Yale Divinity School in 1978 with a Masters of Divinity.  In 1978, he was called to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Weymouth, Massachusetts, where he served until 1991.

Dr. Martin then attended the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology where he received a PsychD in psychology.  He worked for a time at Neponset Health Center in Dorchester and later started private practices in Framingham and Quincy.  He also saw patients at Boston Health Care in Walpole, Massachusetts.  Dr. Martin was a member of the American Psychological Association and the New England Society for Clinical Hypnosis.

A member of the First Parish, Sherborn (Massachusetts) Unitarian Universalist Area Church, Dr. Martin was occasionally called on to preach and conduct children’s messages there.  He also answered requests from former congregants and others to officiate for weddings, dedications, and funerals.

A lover of the outdoors, he was fond of animals, enjoyed cooking, and was a ham radio operator.

Dr. Martin’s survivors include his beloved wife, Wendy J. Parker, MD, of Dover, Massachusetts, with whom he shared 12 years of marriage; his son, Thomas Martin of Brookline, Massachusetts; Wendy’s children, Scott, Elissa, and Mark Russell Sperling of Dover, Massachusetts; his sister-in-law, Barbara Martin of Richmond, Virginia; his aunt, Mary Boyce Wynne and family of Smithfield, Virginia.  His brother, Dabney Martin, died previously.

A Service of Remembrance was held in the Unitarian Universalist Area Church at First Parish in Sherborn, Massachusetts.  Please send messages of condolence to Dr. Wendy Parker, 30 Greystone Road, Dover, MA 02030.

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