Janet Leath Martin, longtime member of First Baptist Shelby and retired hospital chaplain with Atrium Health Cleveland, died Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Gastonia. She was 82 years old.


Born Janet Louise Leath, she enjoyed telling people she was born in Paris...Texas, that is, in 1942, to Lois and Roland Leath.


After an early childhood in Texas and Arkansas, her family moved to Shelby, North Carolina, where her father served as a minister at First Baptist Church, and her mother became a teacher and guidance counselor at Shelby Junior High School.


Janet was a "people person" who enjoyed being with friends and family. A lifelong learner and teacher, she pursued several careers: a popular teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System; a church leader in congregations in Texas and North Carolina; a marketing professional in Charlotte; and her final well-loved role as a hospital chaplain "back home" in Shelby.

She received her Bachelor's Degree from Carson-Newman University in Tennessee, and her Master's Degree in Religious Education from the Midwestern Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.


Survivors include: two daughters, Robin Paoli and husband Richard of Houston and Julie Martin Dean of Charlotte; her sister Suzanne Leath Hamner and husband Easley, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; her brother Marcus Leath, of Lake Forest, California; her niece Janine Hamner Holman and husband Jonathan of Burbank, California; her nephew Michael Hamner, of Oakland, California; her granddaughter, Gia Paoli Bell, of Long Beach, California; and childhood family friend Mary Martha Parrish of Mint Hill, North Carolina.


A celebration of Janet's life will be held this spring. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her name either to the Cleveland County Animal Shelter (https://www.clevelandcountypets.org/donations) or the Alzheimer's Association (https://www.alz.org/).

Online condolences may be made at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com

Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.