Eddie Curtis Martin

Eddie was known by countless individuals. He was both respected and loved for his work ethic, wisdom, laughter, and devotion to all things significant. His life’s actions will cast a light of joy and forever leave a legacy and the inheritance of an incredible example of a father, friend, and great man.

After a long and lengthy car ride in a Model “A” from Ft. Stockton, Eddie was welcomed into this world by parents, Curtis, and Mary (Webb) Martin, on June 4, 1938, in San Angelo, Texas.

At the ripe age of one, the Martin family moved to Mertzon, Texas (1939). This would be where Eddie forever called home. Eddie’s father worked for the Santa Fe railroad, and the family was allowed to live in the bunkhouse. Being that Eddie never met a stranger, he found himself learning Spanish, so he could play and visit with all the railroad family children.

In 1946, Eddie’s father purchased his first water well rig. By the time Eddie reached 14, he was running the rig by himself. During his junior high years, when not helping his parents, Eddie operated the projector for Mr. Covey at the drive-in movie theater. To add to those crisp one-dollar bills Mr. Covey paid, Eddie would coon hunt in the winter months.

Eddie, along with Harrell James, would turn the coon dogs loose and spend the entire night on their tails. When morning came, they may have as many as three dozen to show for their efforts, or at least that is how the stories were told.

Eddie was a competitive football player. He was captain of the football team and chosen as most handsome by his peers during his high school days. After graduation, Eddie attended San Angelo College and worked for Pool Well Service.

When Eddie was in the sixth grade, a new family by the name of McIntire moved into Stringtown (Sherwood). The youngest and only daughter of the family, Johnita, caught the eye and captured the heart of Eddie. Their courtship was the purist, most dedicated form of love. What started with simple dates to the movies, postcards to his sweet “Geeta Marie”, and yearbook photos together, turned into matrimony on October 4, 1957.

Eddie went to work for Brooks Gas Corporation in 1962 and Johnita was an operator for the General Telephone Company. They were blessed by the birth of three healthy boys over the years, Jodie, Scott, and Clint. As the family grew, so did Eddie’s windmill tool collection. After finally accumulating enough equipment, Eddie began repairing windmills after work and on the weekends.

This was often a family affair with Eddie working under the mill, Johnita running the truck and the boys’ tailing rods. His pastime and part-time endeavor became his passion, and eventually lead to an early retirement from the gas plant. Eddie knew almost every gate combination in Irion County and his repair notes can be found inside almost every windmill base still standing spanning over decades.

Eddie loved to hunt, fish and camp. He spent those trips on the bank of the creek, out West and in the mountains making some of the absolute best memories with his wife, children, and friends. Sometimes the hunts were simple, rattlesnakes, rabid fox below Yardley Springs while living at the Tankersley lower farm, wild boars, and coons. In 1983 when he took his first trip to Buffalo Ranch in Rand, Colorado, Eddie’s hunting escapades got a little broader. Elk hunting became his next adventure and along with his friends and family, several trips resulted in successful harvests and good stories to share at the wool house and with his coffee drinking crew.

Throughout his life, Eddie always kept God as his compass. He devoted time as the song leader and music director of the Mertzon Baptist Church and spent countless hours serving as a deacon. His love for God’s word and his passionate prayers were spoken over thousands in and around his community. He would write the names of those needing a touch of God’s love most on napkins, bookmarks, pew cards or scratch paper and place them in his bible. Multiple generations of Eddie’s family attended the Mertzon Baptist Church. In 1969, the church opened doors to a new building. Eddie’s oldest son, Jodie, was the first baptism and his father, Curtis, was the first funeral service to be conducted within its walls.

Eddie took great pride in his relationship with God, his darling wife, his family, and community. His tender heart, charismatic smile, and appreciation for making the place he called home truly better serve as a testament to the beautifully blessed life he lived. His family knows that without a doubt, Papaw is doing “fine and dandy” and “better than he deserves” in the arms of Jesus.

Eddie is preceded in death by his parents, Curtis and Mary Martin and his beloved four-legged compadre, Jake.

Left to mourn the loss of her husband of 64 years is Eddie’s sweet petunia, his “Geeta” his forever soulmate, Johnita Martin.

He is survived by his sister, Virginia Scott, sons, Jodie (wife Annette), Scott, Clint (Wife Elizabeth). His grandchildren Sarah Smith (husband Shaun), Joli McDowell (husband Deriek), Amanda Schlinger (husband Leo), Nathan. His great-grand children Brynn, Jace, Jaxon, Harper and Briar, Daniel, nieces, nephews, and countless friends that knew him as “Possum”.

Pallbearers for the service will be Barry Moore, Rick Charlton, Levi Sparks, Denny Morris, Wes Theirs and Terry Ford all of Mertzon, Texas. Honorary pallbearers include Howard Swaringin, Donald Burney and Loye Tankersley.

Arrangements are under the direction of Johnson’s Funeral Home in San Angelo, Texas. Funeral services will be at the First Baptist Church in Mertzon, Texas, on Friday, September 10, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eddie will be laid to rest in a private family ceremony following the service in the Mertzon Cemetery. The family would like to thank the staff of New Haven Assisted Living and Memory Care for the loving support they have provided our Papaw and Gigi.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the West Texas Boys Ranch, 10223 Boys Ranch Rd., San Angelo, Tx. 76904, or a “Windmill Man” scholarship fund has been set up in honor of Eddie Martin at the First National Bank of Mertzon with funds being awarded to an Irion County graduating senior pursuing a job in the workforce.

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