Jaime Enrique Martinez, Sr., 82, of Jersey City, NJ, passed away on October 9, 2020 with his children by his side. A funeral service will be held at Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Lyndhurst, NJ on Friday, October 16, 2020 at 11:00am. Burial service will immediately follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ at noon. Frank Patti Funeral Home will be handling the funeral arrangements. Due to COVID, all are encouraged to send their thoughts and prayers, Jaime would want everyone to stay safe and healthy. A celebration of life will be held in 2021.
Jaime was born in mountainous, rural Tibes, just north of Ponce, Puerto Rico on March 12, 1938. The tenth of sixteen children, he was orphaned as a young child and raised by his older siblings, especially being cared for by his devoted sister, Alicia and brother Demetrio. With the ambition to build a better life, he started working at the age of 14, when he arrived in New York City. While he worked in many jobs throughout his life, he took special pride in his time and skills as a bookbinder and later, for several decades, as a much-loved concierge for a luxury apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Experiencing difficult circumstances from a young age, Jaime always remained grateful and humble. With his infectious sense of humor and wit, he enjoyed so many of the simple things in life and several hobbies especially in his retirement. He enjoyed carpentry and caring for the family dogs, gardening and playing billiards. Some of his favorite times were spent helping in the caring of his grandchildren or simply having conversations about current events, politics, or his beloved Puerto Rico while enjoying a cold beer or good rum with family and friends. His greatest passion in life, however, was reserved for his wife of 58 years, Emilia, and the family they created. His adoration and devotion to Emilia went beyond the love of a wife by a husband, he often credited her for saving his life and giving it meaning. Upon her death in August 2020, just 9 weeks ago, his heart was broken and never recovered.
Jaime’s devotion to his wife was only matched by his love and pride for the family he built. He is survived by his son Jaime Enrique, Jr., his identical twin daughters Christina and Constance, his youngest daughter, Mercedes, his grandchildren, Jessie Alexandra, Sabrina Christina, Thomas Scott, Chloe Emilia, Chelsea, Emilio, great grandson, Niccolo James, his daughter-in-law Migdalia, his sons-in-law, Scott and Luis, his sisters, Alicia, Angela, Yolanda, Florentina, and Delia, his brothers, Jandin, Guadalupe, Hector, Alejandro, and Ronaldo, and his many beloved cousins, and wonderful nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude for any memorial donations made to a favorite charity of their own choosing in Jaime’s name and memory. He would have been especially pleased for donations to charities, such as Save the Children, that are committed to the struggling children of Puerto Rico, and Iglesias Pentecostal Misionera Luz y Salvacion (HC-01 Box 4683-1, Naguabo, PR 00718-9723).