Jack Charles Martin
July 19, 1923 - July 12, 2009
Jack was born on July 19, 1923 to Robert C. and Wilhelmina Martin in St. Louis, Missouri. He had two brothers, Robert and George, and a sister, Jean, and a large extended family surrounding him.
He always had a fondness for St. Louis, and was speaking of it on the day he passed away. He followed St. Louis sports, especially baseball, and could tell many stories of growing up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He also remembered a tornado that hit his grandparents' home when he was 3. Noticing that a storm was coming up, but not realizing it was a tornado, his grandmother sent him upstairs to close the windows. The windows blew in on him, but his grandmother rescued him and got him to safety. Dad often related this story to me, and how his mother had had to walk home from work, her walk taking her far longer than usual because she had to find other routes home due to closed roads and pick her way through debris. Not being able to phone, she had no idea how her son and parents had fared during her long journey.
Jack graduated from Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis in 1941 and attended Butler University for one semester (studying pre-law). He also worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Indianapolis. He then enlisted in the US Navy where he served as a control tower operator. A World War II veteran, he served from 1943 - 1946 and was in the Navy Reserves after his discharge.
Jack did his undergraduate and graduate work at Purdue University in Industrial Recreation. At the time, many industries and corporations provided recreational parks, programs, and activities for their employees, and he worked at Dayton Power and Light in Dayton, Ohio for 10 years as assistant director of recreation.
Due to different social mores of the time, African Americans were only allowed to use these recreational facilities one day a week. Aware of that, my father’s research for his Masters degree was about the participation of blacks in these programs. It is interesting to note that he was unable to complete his research because, despite having sent out many surveys to companies who had recreational facilities for their employees, he did not receive one response to his queries.
While at Purdue, he met and married Fern Honeywell on July 16, 1949 in the Battle Ground Methodist Church. Their 60th anniversary was this past Thursday. Together they had four children: Steve, Lynn, Leslie, and Jennifer, eight grandchildren: Holly, Eric, Sarah, Jessica, Kyle, Lisa, Curt, and Cole, and (to date) four great grandchildren: JC, Trinity, Braden, and Adelaide whose birth is imminent.
In addition to working at Dayton Power and Light from 1953 - 1960, Jack owned and operated The Martin Agency where he sold insurance from 1960 - 2005. He and Fern owned McClean’s Orchard in Brookston from 1966 - 2001.
Many family memories are wrapped up in that orchard as the entire family worked to operate it in various capacities. We learned to identify varieties, prune and pick apples, sort them for sale and then sell them. The taste of Dad’s apple cider was legendary and is very much missed, especially by his grandchildren.
Another place of family memories was “The Farm” - a tract of partially wooded land that Jack’s parents owned near a covered bridge outside of Rockville. Many happy family gatherings were held on the farm, and Jack’s kids especially enjoyed pumping water out of the working old fashioned pump. The two seater outhouse was not as enthusiastically enjoyed, but we did what we had to do when we could not stand it any longer.
An avid bowler, Jack was active in Lafayette’s bowling community for many years. He was inducted into the Lafayette Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1988, was a member of the Purdue Collegiate Bowling Team where he was named “All Big Ten”, and wrote the column, Ten Pin Alley, in the Lafayette Leader. He also loved to play golf and bridge.
Wood working was a hobby, and his wife, daughters, and daughter-in-law all have lovely settle tables that he made for them after he found an interesting pattern in a library book. We also all have our cherished “diamond pins” - for Christmas one year he raised the excitement level at home by telling us all that we were getting diamond pins as gifts. When we opened those tiny white boxes and lifted the protective cotton, we found dimes with holes drilled in them along with a safety pin to pin the “dime and pin” to our dresses. Such was his sense of humor, and we are all wearing our pins in his honor today.
Dad played baseball from the time he could hold a bat. His father had a joke that his sons were a baseball team, and their home on View Avenue even had a baseball diamond. When Jack was in the Navy and his sister, Jean, was born, he received a telegram from his father that read: “Baseball team all broken up. Wilma Jean born.”
Jack played baseball while in the Navy in Naval Air Station teams and for a year at Purdue. He was offered a pro contract while in the Navy but he turned it down for several reasons, one of which was because he was afraid they’d make him a catcher, a position he did not want to play.
“Giving back” was important to my father, and one way in which he supported kids was by doing free apple orchard tours which included a ride through the orchard on a wagon pulled by a tractor, watching apples be polished, graded, and sorted for sale, and, of course, an apple to eat. He did as many as three free tours a day during the busy harvest season.
Teachers from all over the community brought their students to the orchard, and he received many thank you notes, hand drawn pictures, and letters from the children and the teachers. He saved these and cherished them, bringing them out to show people years after he had closed the orchard.
In 1992 a group of teachers nominated Jack for the George Award, a community award for outstanding volunteer service, in recognition of the hundreds of hours he spent teaching children about pomology. Receiving this award was an honor to him and a highlight of his life. The pin he received as part of the George Award is on his jacket lapel right now.
Jack lived a long, happy life. He suffered from Alzheimer Disease in the past few years, and was lovingly cared for by our mother, Fern. He passed away peacefully and with relatively little discomfort with family around him.
He was a blessing to his family, and a blessing to his community. I could go on and say many things about him and how he touched lives. But the highest accolade we as his children could give him, and one that I believe would mean the most to our father, would be to say, “He was a great dad.”
Rest in peace, Dad. We love you, and we will see you again.
