Chapter Eternal: Martin Williams Jr., Duke ’50

Jacksonville Beach developer Martin Williams Jr. dies at 80 [The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville]

July 05–Martin G. Williams Jr., a Realtor and real estate appraiser who worked tirelessly for the development of Jacksonville Beach, died Wednesday at a hospital near his retirement home in West Jefferson, N.C. He was 80 and suffered complications of a gastrointestinal disease.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 465 11th Ave. N., Jacksonville Beach, where he had been a senior warden.

Burial will be in Oaklawn Cemetery. An earlier memorial service was Saturday at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Glendale Springs, N.C.

Mr. Williams, born in Jacksonville, followed in the footsteps of his father, who was credited with developing Jacksonville Beach beginning in 1919. His father, who served two terms as mayor, built the first pier, boardwalk and amusement park at what was then known as Pablo Beach.

Williams Sr. also founded the Jacksonville Beaches Area Chamber of Commerce of which his son served as president in the 1960s.

Mr. Williams graduated from the Bolles School in 1947 and from Duke University in 1952 and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. He attended law school at the University of Florida in 1954 and 1955 after service in the Air Force during the Korean War.

He started his real estate and insurance business in 1955 and got into real estate development and investing in 1960. He expanded into real estate appraising in 1965.

Mr. Williams’ public service began in 1957 when he was appointed to the Jacksonville Beach Planning and Zoning Board on which he served until 1965. In 1966 he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Jacksonville Beach City Council and served for six years. He was elected again in 1981 and served a four-year term.

He was named Realtor of the Year by the Beaches Board of Realtors in 1967 and again in 1970 and served as a district vice president of the Florida Association of Realtors. He also was a cofounder and past president of the Beaches Multiple Listing Service. He retired in 1993.

Mr. Williams was active in the Beaches Area Historical Society as well as the Ashe County, N.C., Museum of History.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carol Miller Williams; two sons, Stephen Bailey Williams of Jacksonville Beach and Kenneth Andrew Williams of Ponte Vedra Beach; a daughter, Diana Williams Faison of Charlotte, N.C.; and five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Beaches Area Historical Society, 380 Pablo Ave., Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.

jessie-lynne.kerr@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4374

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