Numa Martinez, who ran New Orleans' first private kindergarten for black children, dead at 73

Numa James Martinez, who spent 45 years teaching at and later running the city's first private kindergarten for black children, died Monday at his New Orleans home. He was 73.

The cause of death has not been determined, his daughter Bianca Boyance said.

Martinez started work at Martinez Kindergarten School in 1969, after he returned from two years in the Army. He wanted to teach young children, Boyance said, and his mother, Mildred Bernard Martinez, persuaded him to join her at the school she had founded in the 7th Ward. 

From there, “things just snowballed,” Boyance said.

Except for an interruption after Hurricane Katrina, Martinez stayed at the school at 1767 N. Roman St. until 2014, when it closed. He became principal in 1991, after his mother died.

Among the school's alumni are Kenneth Polite Jr., who was U.S. attorney in New Orleans from 2013 to 2017; Dr. Sandra Robinson, a pediatrician and secretary of the state Health Department under Gov. Edwin Edwards; Sidney Barthelemy, New Orleans’ mayor from 1986 to 1994; jazz musician Wynton Marsalis; and political analyst and commentator Silas Lee.

Martinez and his mother “instilled the value of education and being focused” in their young pupils, Lee said. “It reinforced the mission of the school. He always carried that with him.”

Because so many of the students came from the neighborhood, the Martinezes’ influence as mentors and role models was felt throughout the 7th Ward. “There was so much you learned from them," Lee said. "They never forgot us.”

In an interview earlier this year, Martinez recalled this advice he gave to his students: “Don’t play around with your education.”

Martinez was born on July 23, 1946, in New Orleans. He graduated from St. Augustine High School, where he played saxophone in the school’s band. During summers, he studied Spanish in Nicaragua.

He enrolled at Xavier University but was drafted before he could graduate. He was assigned to the 504th Medical Depot at Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan. From there Martinez was assigned to fly to Vietnam to pick up wounded troops at Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay and get them to Japan.

When Martinez returned to New Orleans, he not only started working at his mother’s kindergarten but also resumed his studies, earning a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at LSU in New Orleans (now the University of New Orleans) in 1972. He earned a master’s degree in elementary education there in 1996.

Working at the kindergarten “was his life,” his daughter said.

In addition to the basic instruction most kindergartens offer, Martinez taught youngsters Japanese, French “and as much Spanish as they could retain,” Boyance said.

“He was an adoptive father and grandfather to them, regardless of what their needs or economic backgrounds were,” she said. “He went out of his way to make them feel included and special.”

Martinez, who enjoyed trips to Las Vegas, was a member of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and the National Rifle Association.

Survivors include a son, Manolito Miguel Martinez of New Orleans; two daughters, Sophia Martinez of New Orleans and Bianca Boyance of New Iberia; a brother, Maurice Martinez of Wilmington, North Carolina; a sister, Josepha Weston of Whippany, New Jersey; and two grandchildren. He is also survived by his former wife, Mary Broussard Martinez.

A Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at Corpus Christi-Epiphany Catholic Church, 2022 St. Bernard Ave. Visitation will start at 8 a.m. Burial will be in St. Louis Cemetery No. 3. D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.