Roy John Martin, 95, of Lincoln, passed away March 20, 2018. The son of John Winifred Martin and Lucy Ann Howell Martin, he was born on the family farm in Osborne County, KS, on June 28, 1922, the youngest of seven children.
Roy enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and became a torpedo bomber pilot in Squadron 86 during WWII. He served aboard the USS Wasp during the final months of 1945. He was in the air August 14, 1945, heading for Japan when the flight was ordered to return to the ship because the war was over. He remembers that was a very happy moment. Shortly thereafter, a typhoon damaged the bow of the ship, requiring a return to the Boston area for repairs. Everybody aboard was excited to be heading home. After being discharged from the military service on January 14, 1946, he entered the marriage service on January 19, 1946, when he married Margie Wentzell in Worcester, MA at Calvary Lutheran Church. They moved to Lincoln shortly after this, where their children, Janene and Jeffrey were born.
Roy graduated from UNL Business Administration College in 1949 and was hired by the Nebraska Mutual Insurance Company to be their accountant and became Secretary-Treasurer of the company. He also started the Anchor Insurance Agency which was later sold to a friend. After selling his interest in the insurance company in 1976, Roy purchased the Telecheck franchise for Oklahoma and Arkansas. Roy and Margie moved to Oklahoma. A year later their son Jeff joined the company. In 1984 the franchise was sold, and they moved back to Lincoln, where he became an agent for the Waddell & Reed mutual funds. The next two years Roy spent time researching the Martin family genealogy.
In Lincoln Roy and Margie were members of Trinity United Methodist and St. Mark’s United Methodist Churches, as well as First Baptist Church. Roy served on a variety of committees at each. They were members of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Oklahoma City and the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa. While in Tulsa they learned to square dance and downhill ski.
Roy was always interested in mental health issues and served where he could to promote better care for folks afflicted with mental illness. He was a past Master of Craftsmen Lodge #314, A.F. & A.M. and a member of Lincoln Scottish Rite, and a former member of Rotary 14.
Roy was preceded in death his parents, five sisters and one brother, daughter Janene, son Jeffrey and wife Carol. He is survived by his wife of 72 years Margie Martin; grandchildren Jennifer Martin (North Hampton, MA), Mary Martin (Austin, TX), Matthew (Katelyn) Martin (Greer, S.C.); five great grandchildren; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church Sanctuary, 8550 Pioneers Blvd. Lincoln, NE with Pastors Wayne Alloway and Kara Hillhouse officiating. Private inurnment in the St. Mark’s Columbarium.
Memorials to the St. Mark’s UMC Foundation or Craftsman Lodge #314 A.F. & A.M.