Duane Bivian Martin

Mr. Martin was born in Gaffney, South Carolina. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, aboard an amphibious assault ship in the Pacific, and aboard the President’s private yacht, the U.S.S. Sequoia. He subsequently joined the U.S. Army Reserves and served for six more years.

After his service, he moved to Miami, Florida where he met his wife, Marjorie Frances Martin, who survives him. They moved to Merritt Island in 1958. He began working at Cape Canaveral Space Center and then owned a well and sprinkler installation company for many years, which he eventually moved to Orlando and Tampa, Florida. He also owned a fuel oil distribution company and a hardware store. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and volunteered in the Orlando temple for sixteen years after his retirement. We will remember him for his steadfast faith, his wry sense of humor, his guitar playing, his quick smile, and his ability to fix anything and everything. He will be greatly missed.

Other survivors include three sons, Jeffrey D. Martin, John A. Martin, and Duane E. Martin, all of Orlando, Florida; a step-son, Arthur E. Heisler of Blairsville, Georgia; three step-daughters, Wanda D. Jennings of Orlando, Cheryl A. Wagner of Port St. John, and Ellen M. Burgess of Blairsville, Georgia; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by three sisters, Marion “Boots” Allen of Livermore, California, and Shirley Ruppe of Orem, Utah and Sylvia Wright, of Gaffney, South Carolina.

Services will be held Friday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Pleasant Hill Ward, Kissimmee, Florida, where he was a member for many years, followed by entombment at Woodlawn Memorial Park. Visitation will precede the services.