Martin Charles Cadmus

Martin C. Cadmus, 91, of Peoria, IL, passed away on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at Independence Village in Peoria. Martin was born on November 19, 1933 in New York, New York to Charles E. Cadmus and Mabel “Anne" Cadmus (Nee Donald). They precede him in death, along with his sister, Joan Youngblood (Nee Cadmus). He married the love of his life, Karen Ann Conway on March 20, 1965 who sadly passed recently breaking his heart.

Left to cherish Marty’s memory is his loving family, son, David (Sherri) Cadmus and daughter, Kathleen (Kevin) Horath; grandchildren, Jessica, Annali and Hailey Cadmus, and John “Nick” (Caitlyn) Massey.

Marty graduated high school in Denton, MD in 1951 and went on to graduate from the University of Maryland in 1956 with a degree in Microbiology. He graduated from the Great Lakes Naval Academy in 1957, though he didn’t serve long thanks to the post Korean War peace dividend. He moved to Peoria to work at the USDA in 1964, where he developed and patented industrial uses for Xanthan Gum. He retired from the USDA in 1989 and fueled his passion for movies by working at Peoria's first home video rental store, Video One, at the dawn of the home rental industry. After retirement, he worked as a bookkeeper at Columbia Rug and at the First Christian Church, continuing until his eyesight deteriorated.

As noted, Marty loved movies and had an extensive collection. He enjoyed cataloging his videos and took great care to store them in a way where he could find them again quickly. Later in life he could be found in his favorite chair watching Star Trek and many other classic action movies. He donated his entire collection of Blu-ray movies to the Independence Village for the other residents to check them out at will. He loved making people smile, used his quick wit to crack jokes and laugh at his own.

A memorial service will be held in Marty's honor on Saturday, August 2, 2025, from 2:00-3:00pm at the First Christian Church located on 6400 N University, Peoria.