Earl Lee Martin

Earl Lee Martin was born on March 20, 1941, in Sheldon, Wisconsin to Jason and Gladys (Byers) Martin. He grew up on the family farm with his 11 brothers and sisters, where they were pioneers, settling and clearing the land. As a child, he attended the Sheldon Mennonite Church.

As an alternative to serving in the military, Earl completed 1-W service at a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he also attended night school to earn his GED. As someone who placed a high value on hard work, he soon found a job as a diemaker in the booming Detroit automotive industry of the 1960’s. He started first at Fisher Body, and eventually made his way to a Cadillac stamping plant run by General Motors. In 1979, he met and married Johanna Liisa Olmsted, then a teacher in the Detroit public schools.

In the mid-eighties, as operations at the Cadillac plant were winding down, he was briefly assigned administrative responsibilities, before being offered a transfer to a factory in Grand Rapids. By this time, his first child, Elizabeth, had been born. Eager to escape the violence of Detroit (in addition to the drudgery of the administrative role, which he greatly disliked), he and Liisa took the opportunity to move. Soon after moving, his second child, Jason, was born.

In Grand Rapids, Earl completed the remainder of the thirty years required to be eligible for a pension, before retiring at a relatively young age. Following retirement, he spent his time gardening, attending church, caring for his children (waking them up for school, preparing their meals, and picking them up from or dropping them off at a range of extracurricular activities), working out, continuing to study history (a hobby he had always enjoyed), rewatching old comedies, and attending to a rotating cast of dogs and cats. He followed a diet consisting mainly of meat, baked beans, and potatoes, and outside of church or formal events, his outfit of choice was Carhartt overalls, a jean t-shirt, and steel-toed work boots.

Earl told of a once-in-a-lifetime experience in which he and his family witnessed an unidentified flying object. This instilled a lifelong interest in this topic even into adulthood. While some are skeptical of such things, the credibility of Earl and his deeply Christian family is difficult to dismiss, making the story and its impact on his life all the more remarkable. Speculating on the role government plays in withholding information about phenomena like this from the public, among other things, fed into a related topic of interest for him: civics.

An avid reader on various topics, Earl would frequently discuss civic issues and historical events with family. It was not irregular for him to ask his children what was new that they were reading about, and what they had learned about society from their reading activities. He particularly enjoyed reading a newsletter called CounterPunch, various books about government conspiracy theories, or discussing the finer points of international affairs.

In addition to attending church, Earl sometimes liked to watch sermons on TV, and would often quote the bible in everyday conversation or break out into hymns that he had learned in his youth.

As he got older, he was prescribed hearing aids, due to hearing loss suffered from the factory. He didn’t always like to wear them, however, so you’d often need to yell to get his attention.

In his later years, he suffered from vascular dementia.

Earl passed away on Tuesday, November 7th, at 7am. He lived out his last days in the relative comfort of home, with his wife Liisa and his son Jason by his side. He is survived by his wife Liisa, his daughter Elizabeth, his son Jason, and his siblings Grace Shult, Leona Skrivseth, Alta Peterson, and Nelson Martin.

A visitation for Earl will be held Saturday, November 11, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Bowne Mennonite Church. Following the visitation will be a graveside services at 3:00 PM at Alaska Cemetery. A time of food and fellowship will take place back at the Church following the graveside service.

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