Martin John Fazakarley was born on 7th August 1964 to Sid and Maria in Birmingham. He was the oldest of five children with a brother Michael and sisters Yvonne, Jill and Pamela. His brother Mike sadly passed only 9 days before Martin’s sudden collapse and passing on 18th December 2021.

He went to Kings Rise School and later became a roofer working alongside Louis who became a close friend. He met Michelle in 1993 and they later married and went on to have two children James and Laura. He has a beautiful granddaughter in Mila. During this time, he also worked as a Special Constable with West Midlands Police rising to the position of Section Officer. He loved this work often doing shifts on a Friday and Saturday night.

He continued roofing covering different areas of the country. It was during this time that he worked in North Devon a lot and he loved the Devon area prompting the family’s move to Combe Martin in 2002. They later moved to Teignmouth, South Devon in 2007.

It was while in North Devon that he was able to realise a lifelong passion by working as a zookeeper at Exmoor Zoo. He worked alongside Steve and they shared their considerable knowledge of animals and wildlife. The family had some unusual houseguests at times! Whenever a nature programme was on TV, Martin would be telling us all the facts before David Attenborough could speak!

Although Martin and Michelle separated in 2013 they remained on amicable terms and he went on to meet Roza for the next chapter of his life. His spelling was never great but he gamely tried to learn some Polish no doubt learning some swear words first! He would frequently walk around the estuary birdwatching which was an ongoing passion for him.

Martin was always willing to help anyone and would give everything he had if it helped someone else. He was definitely one of a kind and will be sadly missed by family and friends alike.