Valerie Joy Martin

Valerie Joy Martin, 

Born: July 17, 1947; Died unexpectedly, January 3, 2026. 

Born a musician, Valerie Joy Martin (née Green) studied classical piano for seventeen years, beginning at an early age, and graduated from college with a degree in Music, French and Education. Valerie started performing her original songs professionally in 1964 and was invited to perform on the stage of Chicago’s Lyric Opera House at a reading of poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks. During college, she continued to pursue music performance and became a leading vocal artist. Invited to sing her adaptation of an Apollinaire poem for a visiting French dignitary, he invited Valerie to touch base with him any time she was in France. 

Following graduation from college, Valerie joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer who had language and teaching skills and spent two years in Togo in West Africa. 

Returning to her hometown of Chicago, Valerie landed on her feet and worked briefly in the young women’s department at Saks Fifth Avenue. Not satisfied that this was her true career path, Valerie started teaching language skills to executives through a small Chicago firm. 

When that firm secured a contract with a Middle-Eastern government and an American contractor to teach English to members of that country’s elite pilots, Valerie was called on to draft a curriculum for the program. Rather than the months it normally takes to script such a curriculum, Valerie had it done in several weeks. She was then able to travel to the Middle-East to hire the talent to teach her classes. 

In the 1970s, Valerie pursued teaching French at the high-school level and initiated a multi-year program of student summer trips to France that always ended with the Bastille Day parade in Paris and an invitation to the Elysée Palace to meet the President of France, Valerie’s old friend. 

Somehow, she also managed to find the time to raise two daughters who developed a deep passion for world travel, education, adventure, the arts, and creativity thanks to the example she provided. 

Late in life, Valerie turned to independent publishing and worked with a number of authors. She regularly made time for her prolific painting and continued to bring joy to those around her through her music. Her creativity also blossomed into a play and a movie that kept her focused.

Valerie Joy Martin (née Green) is survived by her daughters, Katherine McCorkle Lindvahl Pratt and Elizabeth Ward Cranston Pratt; her two grandchildren, Charles Wayne Koltis and Emily Lane Koltis; and her sister, Nancy Dorelle (Green) Donnelly. Valerie was preceded in death by her father, Martin Lincoln Green, her mother, Madelyne (née Larson) Green, and her brother, Martin Leon Lincoln Green. 

Lover of nature, friend to all dogs, passionate about her work, always adapting to new environments, Valerie will be missed by all those who knew her. A private ceremony is planned for a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider making a donation to your local humane society.