Kye I. Martin of Christiansted, St. Croix, died peacefully in her home of natural causes on April 27.
She is survived by three brothers: Ralph C. Martin II, Malcolm M. Martin and Carlos X. Martin; and one sister, Joy Martin. She is also remembered lovingly by many cousins, nieces and nephews, and a multitude of friends on St. Croix, in New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, and other cities in the continental United States.
Kye was born in New York City on March 28, 1948, to Ralph C. Martin, a NYC police officer, and Delois Martin (Murphy), a department store saleswoman. Kye was the firstborn of two children to Ralph and Delois and was loved by her parents and many aunts and uncles. 18 months after her brother, Ralph, was born in 1952, Delois Martin tragically died, leaving two young children to be raised by her widowed husband.
Kye was a proud “native” of the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y. She was a member of the Girl Scouts, the choir and the Young People’s Fellowship at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Bedford Stuyvesant. Kye attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and after graduation, attended City College in New York. Later, Kye received a Master of Library Science (M.S.) from Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas.
After graduating from City College, Kye served as an elementary and middle school teacher in the N.Y.C. public school system. She served in that position until 1976 when she and tens of thousands of municipal employees were laid off due to New York City’s financial insolvency. Taking advantage of the unexpected time off, Kye found an affordable three-day “package” to St. Croix, where she had never been. On her second day on St. Croix, she learned that the Board of Education was hiring teachers. The next morning, Kye visited the offices of the Board of Education at 10 a.m.; at 1 p.m., she left those offices with a job as a St. Croix teacher.
From 1976 until Kye retired 30 years later, first as a junior high school teacher and later as the head librarian at two different schools. Kye taught and inspired young Cruzans to read, speak clearly, conduct their own research and think independently. Kye herself was an independent thinker and was admired by family and friends for her fortitude and resilience, intrepid nature and loyalty to family and friends.
Kye endured 50 years of debilitations, surgeries and physical pain that were linked to lupus. She never let lupus stop her from being a dedicated educator, an active volunteer in her St. Croix community, on various committees in the St. Croix Federation of Teachers, traveling, attending family celebrations, volunteering and inspiring others to have a good time wherever and whenever she appeared. She will be missed by many for all that she contributed to their lives.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, June 13, at the Beulah Church in Bethlehem on St. Croix, USVI. All celebrants are welcome to wear festive attire to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks that family and friends make their donations to the Women’s Shelter on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cremation arrangements are entrusted to Schuster’s Crematorium LLC.
