John Gary Martin...Age 73

CREMATION

CELEBRATION OF LIFE: JOURNEY CHURCH, PAOLA, KANSAS

2PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2014

COMMITTAL OF ASHES AT A LATER DATE IN THE PAOLA CEMETERY, PAOLA, KANSAS

MEMORIALS: JOHN MARTIN MEMORIAL FUND

Memorial Fund has been established at the Citizens Bank in Paola, Kansas and memorials may be sent to the bank or to the Eddy-Birchard Funeral Home P.O. Box 430, Osawatomie, KS 66064


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John Gary Martin age 73, of Paola, Kansas died Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at the Miami County Medical Center in Paola.

John was born June 14, 1940 in Springfield, Missouri the youngest child of three to Ernest Daniel and Glenna George (Mann) Martin.

The first eight years of school he attended a small one room country school and then attended Wheatland High School, Wheatland, MO graduating in the class of 1958.

In 1960 John married Judith Kay McCellan in White City, Kansas. They became the parents of one son and four daughters. This marriage ended in divorce in 1975.

John moved many times during his lifetime all five of his children were born in different towns. Lawrence, Kansas City, Council Grove, Gardner, and Ottawa all in Kansas, and that’s just the towns his family was getting larger in.  He also lived in White City, Kansas and Olathe, Kansas finally settling in Paola in the 1990’s.

John was a welder/ fitter by trade and worked for RO Company in Olathe, Kansas and Pittman Manufacture ring in Grandview, MO. John help manufacture large utility trucks that had a “boom” on them. He even worked as a route salesman and drove a delivery truck for the 7Up company while living in Olathe.

John liked the outdoors and enjoyed camping and fishing whenever he could get time. But he really enjoyed “piddling” as he called it in the garage. He would spend time out there just cleaning and straightening up things.

One of his hobbies was building things, he loved to do woodworking. He even made all the kitchen cabinets in his home as well as in one of his daughter’s homes. He would say “I think I did a good job, I hope.”

John belonged to the Pearl Street Baptist Church which later the name changed to the Journey Church, which he said “bothered” him, so he still called it Pearl Street Baptist Church.

John was preceded in death by his parents, his only son Daniel Eugene Martin on March 21, 2011 and one grandson Joseph Morris in 1997.

He is survived by his four daughters: Shelly Castleberry of Paola, KS, Nancy Newth of Osawatomie, KS, Anita Miller of Gorin, MO and Teresa Pickrell of Bolivar, MO. Nine grandchildren and twenty-four great grandchildren.