Ita Jean Martin

Jean Starr Martin passed away in El Paso, Texas on April 7, 2021 at the age of 85.

Ita Jean Starr was born in Abilene, Texas on March 28, 1936. She was the daughter of Janice Edna Bush and Everett Hanford Starr. The third of four sisters, her memories included those of her father working on drilling rigs and the family moving often, from one small West Texas town to another, occasionally and delightfully living in the best hotels. In the early 1950s, her family settled in Levelland, Texas.

At the age of 14, Jean found her first job, working the concession stand at the local movie theater. She was paid with movie passes and went home smelling like popcorn every day. After graduation from Levelland High School, Jean accepted a scholarship from Texas Western College in El Paso, where she majored in music, played the clarinet, and performed as a majorette with the TWC Marching Cavalcade. At Texas Western, she met the love of her life, Wesley Keel Martin, who was attending college on a football scholarship. The couple married in 1956, living in Coronado, California and later in Agana, Guam, while her husband, Wesley, served in the U.S. Navy. Five years later, they returned to El Paso, the city she called home, for almost 70 years.

During the Navy years, Jean worked as a statistical clerk at North Island Naval Air Station. After the couple returned to El Paso, she taught as a substitute teacher for the Ysleta and El Paso Independent School Districts. After several years, she returned to the University of Texas at El Paso and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology. In 1987, she was hired as a Test Administrator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and retired after 21 years of federal employment. She volunteered at Providence Memorial Hospital and the El Paso Zoo, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the El Paso Zoological Society.

Her love of travel, the natural world, and arts & culture continued from childhood throughout her life. With her husband, she explored the United States and Western Canada. They found their way to Japan and Kenya, toured Europe, and traveled extensively in Mexico. After Wesley’s unexpected death in 1992, she continued her travels exploring more of North America and Asia. Favorite destinations included Coronado, California; the Hawaiian Islands; and especially the village of San Carlos in Sonora, Mexico – anywhere with a beach and a view of the water.

Jean Starr Martin is survived by her three children – Lisa Pugh and her husband Dennis of Las Cruces, New Mexico; John Martin and his wife Aracely of El Paso, Texas; and Matthew Martin of Oxnard, California. Her grandchildren include Daniel, Sara, & Michael Pugh; Victoria Martin & Wesley A. Martin; and Kevin & Gibran Chacon. She is also survived by her sisters Helen Starr Roberts and Virginia Starr Harris, plus numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom she cared for deeply. Jean was preceded in death by her husband of 36 years Wesley K. Martin, her parents Janice & Everett Starr, her sister Charlotte Marie Starr, and her nephew Monty Roberts.

The deceased will be cremated and her ashes scattered in a secluded spot along the southern California coastline, with a view of the ocean that she dearly loved, and where she and her husband will be together again, in death as they were in life.

In accordance with her wishes, no formal services will be held. A family celebration of life will take place at a later date.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MartinFuneralHomeWest.com for the Martin family.