Martin Goñi Irungaray

Martin was the oldest of seven children born to Leoncio Goñi and Felisa Irungaray Goñi on February 4, 1947 in the town of Oronoz in the Valle del Baztan in the Basque Country. On November 10, 1965, Martin immigrated to the United States to become a sheepherder in the central California valley working. After completing his contract, Martin left the sheep industry and came to Bakersfield to work as a cook at the Ville de Basque Restaurant. Shortly after, he started his own gardening business and ran it until his retirement in the summer of 2019.

Anyone who knew Martin will tell you he was a man with a strong work ethic and impeccable loyalty. He worked hard his whole life and was proud of what he accomplished. He was very loyal to his family and friends and made it a point to visit and call them on the phone frequently. His gardening customers were like family. Many were customers for multi generations. They weren’t just customers. They were his friends. Some customers retired and moved away but Martin kept in touch and maintained those friendships. He had a great sense of humor and loved to talk. Whenever there was a family gathering, you could be sure he was the first to arrive and the last to leave. A few times a year, he would invite his family to Sunday brunch at Hodel's. He loved it there, but most of all, he loved sitting for three hours at the table visiting and telling stories with his family. He would make jokes and always had a smile. He had a way about him that made everyone feel good. He was like an extra grandfather to the grand nieces and nephews.

Martin loved animals and dogs in particular. His favorites of all were German Shepherd. Over the years, he had many and he loved to work with them and train them. He enjoyed and loved dogs and often attended police academy K9 training. He was intrigued by their intelligence, and trained his own dogs. Martin learned and trained with commands in German.

Martin was an avid fan of Basque handball, wood chopping, and Basque improvisational songs by bertsolaris. Fridays and Sundays were days to watch Basque handball games live over the internet.

Martin was a lover of nature and spent years fishing the creeks up in the Sierras near Johnsondale. He found his peace in the mountains. There is a saying that you remove a Basque from the mountains but cannot remove the mountains from a Basque. The saying fit Martin exactly. It was indeed his happy place.

Martin is survived by his three brothers, Jose Manuel, Jose Mari, and Vicente; two sisters, Sagrario and Teresa and many nieces and nephews in the Basque Country. He is also survived by his cousin Jesús Goñi of Reno, sister in law Ofelia, his nieces, Teresa, Susana, Marisol, nephew, Jose and his great nieces and nephews Joseba and Xabier Iparraguirre, and Adison and Mia Ward all of Bakersfield.

A Rosary and Mass of Christian Burial will be said for Martin Goñi at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 1515 Baker Street Bakersfield, California on Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 9:00 am. Interment will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park.

Agur Martin, beti maite! Goian Bego.