James Alexander Martin

Old Saybrook – James A. Martin died Saturday July 26, 2014 at Middlesex Hospital. He was 78 years old. Jim was the son of Jean Raymond Martin (Périgueux, France) and Mary Baldwin Hauck (Toledo, Ohio). Jim’s wife, Dorthe, died in 2012.

Born in Toledo, Ohio March 9, 1936, Jim’s family settled in Bellefontaine, Ohio where he graduated high school in 1954. Jim excelled at tennis, played clarinet in the band, and developed a life-long love of big band jazz music.

After graduating from Kenyon College in 1958 (President, Delta Kappa Epsilon Lambda chapter), Jim taught in France for a year before serving in the United States Army assigned to the 7th Army Symphony in Stuttgart, Germany. During his tour of duty, he met his wife-to-be, Dorthe Petersen, in Genoa, Italy, at the wedding of mutual friends.

Jim and Dorthe were married in 1962, lived in Ohio, then Sweden, then returned to the U.S. to settle in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He enjoyed a long career as an industrial engineer working for H.B. Maynard, Stanadyne, and USCO. In retirement, Jim enjoyed playing tennis at the Old Saybrook Racquet Club, working on the Becky Thatcher, maintaining his antique model trains, and playing clarinet and saxophone in local bands. After his wife died, he took up gardening.

Jim is survived by a sister, Joan, daughter and son-in-law Christina and Tim, granddaughter Mathilda, and cousins John, Ann, Robert, and Sally.

Calling hours will be Saturday August 2 from 4pm-6pm at Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home in Old Lyme, CT. Burial services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Jim’s name to the Weiss Hospice and Palliative Care Unit at Middlesex Hospital, 28 Crescent Street, Middletown, CT 06457.