Martin T. Brittingham, Jr.

Martin T. Brittingham Jr., 91, of Newport and formerly of Pennsylvania, passed away Wednesday, August 26, 2020, at the Crystal Coast Hospice House.

His funeral service will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday,  August 28, 2020, at Munden Funeral Home. Interment will follow at a later date at Philadelphia Memorial Park in Pennsylvania. Friends are welcome to attend the service. For those unable to attend, the family invites you to view the webcasting of the service through his obituary page on Munden Funeral Home’s website. In keeping with the CDC guidelines pertaining to the Coronavirus, those who are ill or at-risk (elderly, immune-compromised) are encouraged to stay home. Additionally, there will be a limit to the number of people in the building at one time, as well, those who attend will be asked to bring and wear a protective mask. Help us honor the family while practicing safe measures. Friends are also encouraged to leave words of comfort to the family through the website.

Martin was born on July 29, 1929, in Glenloch, Pennsylvania, to the late Martin Turner Brittingham Sr. and Charlotte E. Book Brittingham. He was a graduate of West Chester Senior High School, Class of 1947. Martin was a member of First Presbyterian Church in West Chester, PA as well a member of the West Chester Masonic Lodge #322 F.& A.M.

He honorably served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. Martin bravely fought in the Battle of Chosin where the American military leaders were caught off guard by the entrance of the People’s Republic of China. Twelve thousand men of the First Marine Division, along with a few thousand Army soldiers, suddenly found themselves surrounded, outnumbered and at risk of annihilation at the Chosin Reservoir, high in the mountains of North Korea. The two-week battle that followed, fought in brutally cold temperatures, is one of the most celebrated in Marine Corps annals. Martin was among the “Chosin Few” as they were called, that participated in this battle. He was wounded in November of 1950, earning him three Battle Star medals and a Purple Heart. Martin was a proud life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars #106 in West Chester and the Disabled American Veterans.

Following the military, Martin worked for the United States Postal Service in Exton, Pennsylvania where he held the position of Postmaster for numerous years. Following his retirement from the Post Office in 1985, he went on to work for Automotive Concepts for the next 13 years.

In 2013, he moved to the Crystal Coast and became a resident of Carteret County where he attended Wildwood Presbyterian Church. He was a loving uncle and friend to all he met and will be sorely missed.

He is survived by his niece, Sherry Tant and husband Bobby of Newport; nephew, Tim Murdoch and wife Karen of New Bern; grand nieces and nephews, Stephanie Murdoch of New Bern, Ashleigh Rice of Wildwood, Micah Rice of Wilmington and Tyler Murdoch of Wildwood; step-son, William “Bill” R. Epp Jr. and wife Kate and their sons William and Daniel, all of Massachusetts; and brother-in-law, William C. Murdoch of Wildwood.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife, Alice Brittingham; his second wife, Ruth Brittingham; sister, Marilyn Kay Murdoch; and brother, Francis “Frankie” Brittingham.

Flowers are welcome, or memorials can be sent to the Crystal Coast Hospice House at P.O. Box 640, Newport, NC 28570 or to Wildwood Presbyterian Church at 276 Wildwood Rd, Newport, NC 28570.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home and Crematory in Morehead City, NC.