Judy Ann Martin

Judith “Judy” Ann Martin, 83, died peacefully beside her husband of 57 years on January 18th, 2025, at their home after her battle with Parkinson’s disease. She filled the world with love and acceptance and left it a better place for her family. She was the glue for the family and provided strength through many trying times. Judy was a wife, widow, sister, daughter, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, niece, and aunt.

Judy was born on October 26, 1941, in Toledo, Ohio, to Esther (Hahn) and Walter Frederick Stark. She has brothers, Robert and Michael. She graduated from Devilbiss in 1959. After graduating from high school, she obtained a two-year degree to become an X-ray technician. She worked at The Toledo Hospital full-time until 1970 and then part-time for prominent orthopedic surgeons in Sylvania and Toledo until 1984. She married Ralph Thomas Laney on September 15th, 1961, in Toledo, Ohio, until his death on February 16th, 1966. They had three children: Timothy Allen, Douglas John, and Steven James. She remarried Ray Lester Martin on January 20th, 1968, in Toledo, Ohio, and they had one child, Elizabeth Ann.

She was blessed to work part-time and raise her four children while pursuing creative outlets. She owned several businesses from “Just-In Time” with her sister-in-law, “The Sylvania Depot,” and “JRs Stuff.” From 1990 to 2004, she was the proprietress of “Mrs. Martin’s Mercantile and Millinery,” which reproduced Civil War women’s clothing from the skin out. She was revered as one of the foremost experts in costume reproduction in the United States and had clients in Europe as well. Judy hosted national Civil War conferences, concentrating on the social history of the 1860s for ten years. The event was called “The Ladies of the 1860s.” After she retired and sold the business and clothing for the movie “Gettysburg,” she was an active quilter who produced many beautiful quilts for her friends and family. She loved to travel with her family to all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, China, and multiple Caribbean islands. She was an avid reader and survived reading two of her daughter’s master’s thesis.

She was preceded in death by her son, Timothy Allen, her parents, and a husband. Her legacy will live on in her husband, children, Douglas, Steven, and Elizabeth; Daughters-in-law, Cathrine (Tobianski) Laney and Jill (Chorney) Laney; grandchildren, Alicia, Christopher, Ryan, Kyle, and Jessica; and great-grandchildren Reagan, Ellen, and Peyton; brothers, Robert and Michael Stark; and nieces Cheryl and Leslie Ebinger.

The family extends their deepest gratitude to Hospice of Northwest Ohio for their compassionate care, and well as to their wonderful caretaking who supported Judy over her journey. 

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that you extend a hand to someone in need or your favorite charity as Judy did throughout her life.

Family and friends may visit at Newcomer Funeral Home, 4150 West Laskey Road, Toledo, Ohio 43623, on Friday, January 24, 2025, from 10:00 am until the time of the funeral beginning at 3:00 pm.