Dr. James C. “Jay” Martin
October 10, 1944 – March 13, 2025
Dr. James C. “Jay” Martin of Colorado Springs, age 80, died peacefully at his home on March 13, 2025, surrounded by his family.
Jay, as he was known to many, was born on October 10, 1944, in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, to Geneva and Cecil Martin. At age 19, he pastored his home church while continuing to pursue higher education, culminating in earning his Doctor of Ministry degree from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1977.
Jay’s passion was pastoral counseling, resulting in a shift in his career trajectory to becoming a mental health professional. He spent several years as a chaplain at a psychiatric facility, counseling patients and leading group therapy sessions, valuing his tutelage under the lead psychiatrist. His work there led him to accept the position of Counselor at the Central Oklahoma Cancer Center at Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City, where, for thirteen years, he guided hundreds of cancer patients and families through their cancer journey. Dr. Martin established the Center for Families in Transition in 1992, where he specialized in counseling couples, stepfamilies, trauma survivors, and anyone in a life transition.
Following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, Jay counseled numerous clients and family members, helping them process the trauma of the event. He became affiliated with the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, an international, non-profit, humanitarian assistance organization initially organized to serve a need in Oklahoma City by providing trauma relief to first responders, healthcare professionals, and the community by deploying trained volunteers to disaster sites. Dr. Martin helped establish the Oklahoma Traumatology Institute, a Green Cross-affiliated training site through which he led field traumatology and compassion fatigue seminars in Canada, Kenya, and throughout the United States. He was deployed numerous times to work with first responders in New York City and New Jersey following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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