Martha Miller Trice

Martha Miller Trice

September 21, 1952 – June 18, 2026

Martha Miller Trice, formerly Martha Lee Miller, passed away peacefully at home in Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday morning, June 18, 2026, surrounded by her family. She was 73 years old.

Martha was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 21, 1952, to George and Martha Miller. She was the youngest of five children: Bill Miller Jr., Barbara Kurtz, Nancy Pierce, and Bonnie Graupp. Her father affectionately called her “Wahwee,” a nickname that may have annoyed her just a little, but one she lovingly accepted. She was preceded in death by her parents and by her siblings Bill and Barbara. She is survived by her sisters, Nancy Pierce and Bonnie Graupp, as well as many nieces and nephews.

On November 4, 1972, Martha married the love of her life, Robert “Robbie” Trice. Together they built a life full of music, ministry, faith, family, friendship, and service to others. Their marriage spanned more than 53 years and carried them through many cities, churches, stages, sanctuaries, living rooms, classrooms, and seasons of life.

Martha is survived by her husband, Robbie Trice; her son, Travis Trice; her daughter-in-law, Jessica Trice; and her three beloved grandchildren, Evan, Juliet, and Tobias Trice.

Martha and Robbie adopted Travis as a newborn in 1983 in Jacksonville, Florida. Martha often said that raising a child was the greatest joy of her life. She saw motherhood as one of God’s greatest gifts to her, and she poured herself into her family with love, encouragement, humor, prayer, and fierce devotion. Travis often described her as his hero and credited her with teaching him how to believe in himself. Her voice of encouragement became one of the great gifts she left behind.

Martha was an accomplished musician her entire life. She had a crystal-clear voice with an extraordinary soprano range and was a gifted pianist whose music filled churches, homes, classrooms, and hearts for decades. In her younger years, she traveled and sang with The Spurrlows, and later with Kinfolk, one of the early contemporary Christian music bands on the East Coast during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. Kinfolk toured and recorded music from 1971 through 1979, and many people still remember and treasure their music today.

Martha and Robbie spent much of their lives serving together in music ministry. They served at Southside Assembly of God in Jacksonville from 1980 to 1984. In the years that followed, Martha sang as first soprano for the PTL television network in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and she and Robbie served in music ministry at Raleigh Christian Community. They also traveled with their high school friend Ernie Frierson as the trio High Praise.

From 1991 to 1999, Martha and Robbie served as music ministers at Northwood Assembly in Charleston, South Carolina. During those years, they also sang at national events for The Christian Coalition, where Martha was frequently asked to perform the national anthem. She even had the opportunity to sing before President George H.W. Bush.

After returning to Raleigh and later Jacksonville, Martha continued serving in music ministry, including at Calvary Worship Center. In 2012, she and Robbie began a house church in their home, continuing their lifelong pattern of welcoming people, encouraging faith, and building community wherever they were planted.

Even while serving in churches and traveling in ministry, Martha never stopped teaching. For more than 40 years, she taught piano and voice lessons to hundreds, if not thousands, of children. Teaching was not simply a job to her; it was part of who she was. She loved her students deeply and considered it an honor to have a place in their lives. She taught with patience, excellence, humor, discipline, and joy.

Her final piano recital with her students was held on April 18, 2026. It took all the strength she had to complete it, but Martha was determined. When Martha set her mind to something, it got done. That final recital was beautiful and stands as a fitting picture of her life: faithful, determined, musical, generous, and focused on others until the very end.

Martha was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2016. For many years, she weathered the sickness with remarkable strength, rarely allowing others to see how difficult it was physically and emotionally. After her diagnosis, she spent many mornings journaling and writing down her conversations with God. Over time, those reflections became the foundation for her book, “Reflections: Mirrors of Faith & Love.”

In 2017, Martha told Travis she wanted to go into real estate with him. He thought she was crazy, but in 2018 they both earned their real estate licenses and began growing their business together. Martha brought her creativity, eye for beauty, love of people, and gift for encouragement into real estate. She especially enjoyed decorating, staging, showing homes, and helping people find places where they could build lives they loved.

Martha also loved golden retrievers. Her dogs Gabriel, Cleo, and Tucker were part of the family. Tucker remained by her side throughout her sickness and misses her dearly.

Martha was, quite simply, one of the most positive people anyone could know. She had a way of making people feel seen, loved, capable, and important. Whether she was singing on a stage, teaching a child at the piano, encouraging a friend, helping a family find a home, praying with someone, or loving her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, Martha left people better than she found them.

Her life touched generations: family, students, church members, friends, neighbors, clients, musicians, and countless people who may never fully know how deeply she affected them. Her legacy is not only in the music she played or the songs she sang, but in the confidence she gave, the faith she shared, the beauty she created, and the lives she helped shape.

Her family invites all who knew and loved Martha to join them for:

Encore: Celebrating the Life of Martha Trice 

Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM New Life Christian Fellowship2701 Hodges Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32224

For those unable to attend in person, the service is scheduled to be streamed here:https://youtube.com/live/i6IYMXD8WQM?feature=share

For those who wish to send flowers, the family asks that they be sent to New Life Christian Fellowship to be displayed at the memorial encore.

Many people have asked how they can support the family during this time. While the family did not ask for it, some dear friends organized the following opportunities for anyone who feels led to help:

GoFundMeTo assist with memorial expenses and other costs related to Martha’s passing:https://gofund.me/c75baf9e4

Meal TrainTo support Robbie and the family in the weeks ahead:https://mealtrain.com/yy4zrm

Martha’s song continues in her family, her students, her friends, and everyone blessed enough to have known her.