Martin, Jr., the Honorable Gordon A.
On Nov. 1, Gordon A. Martin, Jr., of Jamaica Plain, formerly of Newton, where he was an active parishioner at Sacred Heart Church, at age 82. Son of Gordon A. Martin and Marion Hennessy Martin, brought up in West Roxbury by his aunt, M. Lillian Hennessy, after the early death of his mother. Husband of Stephanie (Lang) Martin. Father of Constance Martin of Roslindale, Clare Martin and her husband Terrence Lyons of Newton, Peter Martin and his wife Samantha of Rome, Italy, and Andrea Martin and her husband Buddy Gumina of New York, NY; also survived by eight grandchildren. Graduate of The Roxbury Latin School, Harvard College, and New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar.
In the 1960s he was a trial lawyer for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, working primarily in Mississippi. Returning to Boston, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, founding partner of the law firm Martin, Morse, Wylie and Kaplan, and a dedicated participant in Democratic politics. From 1983 to 2004 he served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court. He was a visiting professor at several law schools and longtime adjunct professor at New England Law Boston. Active in national juvenile justice groups and in Democratic politics, he was the author of legal articles and a book, Count Them One by One: Black Mississippians Fighting for the Right to Vote.
Visiting hours Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, at the Robert J. Lawler and Crosby Funeral Home, 1803 Centre Street, West Roxbury from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on November 5 at 10 a.m. at St Lawrence Church, 774 Boylston St. Chestnut Hill. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Casa Myrna Vasquez, P.O. Box 180019, Dorchester, MA 02118 or Mississippi Center for Justice, P.O. Box 1023, Jackson, MS 39215. www.lawlerfuneralhome.com
Lawler and Crosby Funeral Home
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