Obituary of John Joseph Martin

Our beloved father John Joseph Martin left us peacefully on May 2nd. John was born July 7, 1922 in Brooklyn, NY to Irish parents Walter Joseph Martin and Mary Frances Tracy. His father worked on the Staten Island ferry as a captain. John was a big Brooklyn Dodgers fan and lived very close to Ebbets Field. He attended Catholic schools and served as an altar boy. He attended St. John’s University in New York before joining the war cause. After several failed attempts to join the Navy due to poor eyesight, he was inducted into the U.S. Army during WWII and saw active duty in the Philippines with an armored division. After the war, using the GI Bill he attended Columbia University to obtain his degree as well as the University of Colorado at Boulder where he obtained his teaching credential. After his college studies were completed, he became an elementary school teacher in the Santa Cruz school district between the years 1950 to 1955. He met a recent UCLA graduate, Loretta Cleveland, who was a fellow Santa Cruz teacher and they transferred to the Monterey school district after they married in Capitola where he resided. After the birth of their first son, Gregory (Greg), they took advantage of an army program which brought in teachers from the United States to teach at the U.S. military base schools in Germany. They spent two years there during which time, their second son, Lawrence (Larry), was born. They returned to the Monterey Peninsula and lived in Pacific Grove welcoming two daughters, Clare and Patricia (Tricia), until building a house in the Carmel Valley in 1964. John and Loretta had the original Airbnb idea of renting out their home for two consecutive summers in the early 1970’s to embark on summer long camping trips to Canada which included their four children, a dog, and a canoe on top of their Rambler station wagon. Upon John’s divorce he moved to Carmel by the Sea where he resided for 30 years until moving to his final home, the Hacienda Carmel, where he lived for 16 years. John was very active during his long retirement joining Sierra Club activities, volunteering at the Carmel Art Association, the Dixieland Festival, the Bach Festival and taking many classes at MPC through the Gentrain program. Additionally, he enjoyed extensive travelling to such countries as Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, England, Greece and Mexico. His astounding ability to retain knowledge and recollect events in his life in addition to his great ability at storytelling amazed those that were lucky enough to know him. John is survived by his former wife Loretta and his four children Gregory (Mary), Lawrence (Danielle), Clare and Patricia (Jeffrey) in addition to seven grandchildren (Burl Smith, Dawn Martin, Natalie Drew, Emily Martin, Nicole Bryant, Kevin Novak and Regan Miller) and seven great-grandchildren. Our family would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for all the loving care Dad received from Ida Corby-DeMaagd of Seniors Helping Seniors and her wonderful team of caregivers, Jan, Greg, Brenda, Cerise and Larry. A funeral Mass will be held at Carmel Mission Basilica on June 27th at 10 am. A private burial will take place following Mass at San Carlos Cemetery in Monterey.