Arnold Walter Martin

Arnold Walter Martin

Arnold Walter Martin, known to his family and friends as “Marty,” was born October 20th, 1937, in Dubuque, Iowa.  He passed away at home on August 17th, 2017, after a courageous two-year battle with lung cancer.  He is survived by his wife Suzanne Martin, sister Carolyn Bodish, daughters Roxanne Ramsey, Michelle Kendall, and Nichole Martin, and sons Arnold Martin, Blake Martin, and Stephen Martin.  He was a grandfather to Rachel, Danielle, Nicholas, Ryan, Justin, Jessica, Hailey, Logan, Jimmy, and Hank (who will be born in January 2018).  He was a great-grandfather to Annabelle, Lucas, Makenzie, Kassidy, Jacob, and Logan.   He is preceded in death by his mother Viola Martin, father Arnold Martin, sister Maggie Bryson, and brother Donnie Martin

Marty left home at age 17 and joined the Navy.  He served his country for 20 years aboard the USS Bennington and Jezebel Julie, fighting multiple tours in the Vietnam War.  He was very proud of his service and loved to talk about all the places he was stationed.  After his career in the military he worked as service field technician for Prime Computers in Mt. View, California.  This is where he met his wife Suzanne in 1976, they had their daughter Nichole, and Marty was promoted to Service Manager, which took them to Washington State.  Marty was offered the Director of Service position with Quantum Medical Devices, which became Siemens.  He then went to work for Simplex as a Service Manager.  Sue and Marty always wanted to own their own business and their love for art had them opening a paint-your-own ceramic shop called the Ceramic Gallery in downtown Kirkland.  He also loved antiques and rented a booth in Auburn at an antique store.  After selling the business in 2003, Marty retired.  Marty loved to work and never fully enjoyed being retired, but his health kept him from returning to the working world.  During his 14 years of retirement he traveled to Panama, Costa Rica and Belize.  He spent many days with his grandson Jimmy.  He also enjoyed having a not-so-occasional glass of whiskey with his son-in-law Jeff.   We know he is up in heaven holding his dog Jackson and hoping our country doesn’t go to hell in a hand basket.

His service will be held August 24^th at 10:00 AM at the Tahoma National Cemetery.