JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A memorial service will begin at 10 am at Anastasia Baptist Church to honor the life of a beloved St. Johns County hero, Firefighter Matthew “Matt” W. Martin.
Firefighter Martin worked at station 3 and station 6, according to Jeremy Robshaw, Fire Rescue Chief of Administrative Services.
“Matt had been doing this job for St. Johns County for 18 years, and you know, over that time period developed a lot of really strong relationships,” Robshaw says. “There’s gonna be a lot of people that are gonna be missing Matt - significantly, for a long time.”
According to a Facebook post by St. Johns County Fire Rescue, the visitation begins at 10 a.m., followed by a service at 11 a.m., at Anastasia Baptist Church, located at 1650 A1A South, in St. Augustine.
“For those of us with the department and the community to remember Firefighter Martin, to spend time with his family in that environment, certainly we are there to support them during this time,” Robshaw says. “They’re going through something that none of us would ever like to go through, and I think as a department, as a community, the ability to come and have a service... a celebration of life for Matt, and what he accomplished, and what he did for the community.”
Robshaw says that working as a firefighter creates strong family bonds amongst your station and everyone feels the loss of one of their own. He says Firefighter Martin worked at Station 3 and Station 6 in St. Johns County for years.
“We have our own way of managing that grief, internally, as a department. And that’s certainly to lean on each other, but I would say that our focus right now is to recognize and remember Matt,” he says.
There will be a procession for Firefighter Martin before the church services, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Craig Funeral Home, located at 1475 Old Dixie Highway, which will pass by Station 6, which is Firefighter Martin’s old firehouse.
“The Fire Department is a family, and certainly when you’re working in that station environment, you spend a lot of time together with those individuals and you know, in a lot of high-stress situations, so there’s a significant bond there,” Robshaw says.
The Family of Firefighter Matthew “Matt” W. Martin is asking anyone who wishes to honor his life to consider donating to two local organizations - The Wounded Warrior Project, and the Humane Society.
Robshaw says that the community is welcome to come by and pay their final respects to Firefighter Martin, a beloved St. Johns County Hero.