Josephine Martin, née Giuseppina Cocozzelli, 92, formerly of Flemington, New Jersey, died peacefully on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, at the home of her son Joseph and his wife Jennifer, in Darien.
Josephine Martin, 92, passed away on Aug. 14.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 11, 1931, she was the daughter of the late Pompeo and Nicolina (Luise) Cocozzelli. She had formerly resided in Seaford, New York, and lived in the Flemington area for almost 40 years.
A 1949 graduate of Franklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn, Josephine became a caregiver at an early age for her two younger brothers, Francesco and Ferdinando, with the premature deaths of both of their parents, while her older brother Carmelo (who died in 1982) served in the Merchant Marine.
After high school, she worked as an administrative assistant in the office of C.A. Hansen Yacht Insurance in Manhattan. From there, as an independent, free-spirited young woman, she built a lifelong career in a series of insurance agencies, where her professionalism and warmth were valued by clients and colleagues alike.
Josephine’s parents, who had emigrated from Italy in the 1920s, made a home for their family on Essex Street, near New Lots Avenue at Brooklyn’s eastern edge. She grew up among a close-knit Italian immigrant community during the Depression and then during the Second World War.
Josephine carried this experience with her for her entire life, sharing memories with children and grandchildren — and anyone else willing to listen — and representing that world as her own grew wider. Without losing those early ties, she married someone from a world very different from hers.
Josephine and her husband, Reinhold Martin (who died in 2019), a recent immigrant from Estonia, met while both were working in the insurance industry in Manhattan, and they were married in 1963. They lived first in Valley Stream, New York, then Seaford and then Flemington, raising three sons.
Of necessity, Josephine was effectively a mother twice over, first to her younger brothers and then to her sons, and a quintessentially loving grandmother (Nonna) to a third generation.
In Seaford, she worked full-time raising her children, becoming an enthusiastic and much-loved presence in the local PTA. In New Jersey, she resumed her career in insurance at the Rice Agency in Somerville. There, she delighted in small things, like daily encounters with clients, her commute along the Raritan River, weekly visits to the Flemington shops and markets, and of course, family and friends.
Having converted her religious denomination after marriage, the community at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Flemington meant a great deal to her.
Above all, Josephine is lovingly remembered for her alert mind and intense curiosity, which fed a gregarious eagerness to learn about and befriend all she met. Some who encountered her became close friends; others, having met her only once or twice, remember being struck by her humanity and by her grace.
Surviving are three sons and their spouses: Reinhold Martin and Kadambari Baxi of New York City, Peter and Kristen Martin of Fair Haven, New Jersey, and Joseph and Jennifer Martin of Darien; her brothers: Francesco Cocozzelli of Estero, Florida, and Ferdinando Cocozzelli of Yulee, Florida; and six grandchildren: Peter, James, Margaret, Neelan, Alexandra and Catherine.
Memorial services will be held at a date to be determined. Interment will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church, 201 Highway 31, Flemington, NJ 08822.
— an obituary from Lawrence Funeral Home, where online condolences may be left