Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

November 5, 2026

J. Franklin (“Frank”) Martin was born in 1944 in Asheville, N.C. A few years later, his family moved to Chapel Hill; and Frank had fond memories of growing up in a small college town as the spoiled youngest of four children in a loving family.

In 1966, he received a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar. Then, after three years in the US Navy, he graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Spencer Love Scholar.

Over 40 years, Frank and an outstanding team of associates developed condominiums, townhouses, and residential communities in Georgia, North and South Carolina.  His company, Landcraft Properties, had a major impact on Fourth Ward's development.

Balancing family, friends, work, and service was Frank’s joy and challenge. He referred to his wife, Frannie, and son, Grainger, as his great blessings in life. He enjoyed the closest and most loving relationship with his siblings, Penny, Sophie, and Ned throughout his adulthood. He also enjoyed warm, caring relationships with a few especially close friends, many of whom were men with whom he played tennis and golf or shared Bible studies.

In community work, Frank focused on bettering the lives of the disadvantaged—caring for the homeless, providing affordable housing, and offering job training. He served on different boards of non-profits working in those areas.  He co-chaired the Harvest Center, a Charlotte homeless ministry.  He served as the first board chair of the Historic Rosedale Foundation., an organization to preserve, restore, and present an early-eighteenth-century property on N. Tryon Street.to the public.

In 1998, he was one of the founders of Sugar Creek Charter School, a 1,550 student, K-12 school with a student body composed primarily of students from low-income families. For ten of the school’s first twenty years, he served as the board chair. In 2018, the school’s board honored Frank by designating the school’s 400-student high school campus the “J. Frank Martin Campus”.

In his early forties, Frank chose to give his life to Jesus. For his remaining years, Frank’s primary goals were to know Jesus better and to serve Him more faithfully.

A service will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, November 13, 2026, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 101 Colville Road, Charlotte, NC 28207

In lieu of flowers, you can support Sugar Creek Charter School. The family invites you to honor Frank by embracing others with the same kindness, and love that he shared so abundantly.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.