Bruce James Martin

Bruce James Martin, born May 5, 1942, passed away peacefully on June 6, 2022, at the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, in Largo, Maryland, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

He was born to Otto T. Martin and Mozelle Martin (née Davis) in Detroit, Michigan, and was the second eldest of four children.  The family subsequently moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where Mr. Martin spent the remainder of his youth.  In 1960, he graduated from C.A. Johnson High School in Columbia, South Carolina, and later attended Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.  After attending a meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he subsequently participated in a nonviolent demonstration sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (“SCLC”).  He then moved to Washington, D.C. and attended Howard University. 

Mr. Martin began what would be his extensive career in banking and finance at the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C. Mr. Martin  began as a paying and receiving teller (after which, he was selected to take part in and was promoted to a management training program). After the 3-year training program commenced Mr. Martin was promoted to assistant VP of retail banking, Park Road Office and eventually Manager and VP at Park Road for New Division of Banking and Communications Development Division. Mr. Martin retired from Riggs in 1997 and embarked upon another endeavor as First Executive Director and Chief Executive of the Collective Banking Group. A decade later he started his own consulting business in commercial lending and investments.

Mr. Martin earned a degree through the American Banking Institute in retail and commercial banking and was a founding member of the Black Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.

His favorite pastime was playing tennis.  As a college student in Washington, D.C., he was working part-time as a tennis instructor in the summer when he met and married Mary L. Martin (née Etienne).  Mr. Martin is survived by his wife of 56 years, their three children: Stephen B. Martin, Stacey L. Martin-Howard, and Stephanie Martin Toe, and three grandchildren: Avery Bruce Toe, Anderson Bobby Toe, and Ayden Martin Toe.  Mr. Martin is also survived by his sister, Donna Jean Young, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.