Russell David Martin

Russell was born in Denver May 18, 1963 he is the middle child of three boys. Russell's parents divorced when he was five years old. Russell does not remember much about his childhood but he said he got in trouble with the law a lot. During his teens and early adulthood he worked at various factories near Denver. He would do laundry, wash dishes, and other odd jobs. Russell never finished high school but he did get his GED.

When Russell was in his early 20's he began "bare knuckle" fighting in meat packing plants around Denver. Russell realized his manager was making all the money and tried to manage himself but no one would let him fight without a manager. So, he went to the Colorado Art Institute for a year, he was quite a master of drawing the human body. After that Russell worked odd jobs until he found a steady job as a bounty hunter; Russell caught two of Colorado's most wanted. Russell married a woman with an 8 month old baby girl; he considered the baby his own. Later Russell and his wife had two daughters. Bounty hunting was dangerous (he was shot one time and stabbed another time) and took Russell away from his family. Also, he was in a car accident and broke his back. Russell wanted to spend more time with his family so he quit bounty hunting and later got a job as a custodian at Thornton High School. Unfortunately Russell's wife was an alcoholic and she ended up in jail. Consequently, Russell got a divorce and full custody of his daughters. The girls went to the same high school Russell worked at so he was able to watch over them. The girls, Sarah and Mallory, are 20 and 19 respectively and they are very grounded young ladies.

In 2009 Russell and I met through an on-line dating site. He wanted a woman who was within 5 miles of where he lived (he didn't want to spend money on gas). Also, he paid $29.95 to be able to write to me through the dating site. I so appreciated that he spent the $29.95 because that was money he really could not afford to spend unwisely. Fortunately for us, it was a wise decision and we married in 2010. I fell in love with Russell because he not only turned his life around but he was so dedicated to raising his daughters. Money was scarce on a custodian's salary and Russell sacrificed much so that his daughters would have a better childhood than the one he had. Though Russell and I had different careers and edcuation, I was a Program Manager for the Department of Energy with a masters degree we were good together. We were always laughing so some people called us "Bevis and Butthead". I hope I was Bevis.

One of Russell's passions was long-boarding, drawing, music, body art, playing the drums, riding motorcycles, RVing and Happy Hours. A long board is a really long skate board. He was so skilled at long-boarding that he was clocked at going at 55 miles per hour. He also built three Harley Davidson choppers. He built the choppers with no previous training, only his love for motorcycles. And of course, he loved body art. You will see pictures of his body at the service. He was often shy about showing off all his tattoos because some were so very personal. Like the pictures of him and me and his two girls on his chest or the numerous logos on his back. Still behind all the art was one of the most sensitive men I have ever known.

His greatest love and pride are his two daughters Sarah and Mallory. He had unconditional love for them, and as a husband, he we the best. Yes, we fought like many other couples but after each fight we were just more in love.

Other loves of Russell's are our animals. We have three dogs, a cat, and two exotic birds. His favorite dog is a little 5 pound terrier named, what else "tattoo", "tat" for short. The dogs wear clothes; Russell would pick out their clothes and dress them. He would never let anyone know that. He would make sure the little dogs always looked their best when he took them to Lowes or Home Depot. He was just a big guy with an even bigger heart.

On the weekend of August 18-19, 2012 Russell and I were camping in Gunnison, Colorado. On Saturday Russell was complaining of aches on his right side so he spent the day and evening sleeping. By Sunday morning his pain was severe we had to go to the emergency room in Gunnison. The ER doctor told Russell that he had a kidney stone but more alarming is he said Russell had cancer. The doctor told us to drive back to Denver immediately. So, we packed up and headed back to Denver to a hospital in Lafayette, Colorado. It was there that Russell was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. The cancer spread to his stomach, intestines, bladder and liver.Russell had to quit his job, which he loved. He missed the students, teachers and staff. He never wanted to miss work unless he really had to.

During his final days Russell was very, very ill. It pained him to even move.Yet he would try to smile and make a wise crack. He was so brave through his fight and we will always remember him as the bravest of them all. Oh, he liked me to call him "my baby boy". A funny nick name for such a big guy.