Charles "Butch" Martin

Born November 30, 1940 to Charles Wilson Martin, Jr. and Fay Frances (Rea) in Strawn, Texas. In 1955, his family moved to Eastland, Texas. He played football for and graduated from Eastland High School in 1959.

On a quick trip to Ranger to enroll in college, he and his buddy took a detour and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After surviving a pretty big scolding from his mother, he began his time serving our country on September 11, 1959. On a quick break before being stationed overseas, he married the love of his life, his high school sweetheart, Linda Sue (Dalton) on November 26, 1961, in Hamilton, Texas. He was honorably discharged from the Army, and they moved to Abilene in the fall of 1962. After a few months working as a surveyor for Brown and Root, he began his career with Tesco Equipment and Supply Company.

Charles worked for Tesco Equipment for 56 years. He retired multiple times, but couldn’t stay away. When his body wouldn’t allow him to physically work anymore, he consulted by phone. He worked hard and wasn’t afraid to get dirty. He’d climb in a hole or work in freezing weather, and always came home covered in grease, most likely having stopped to help someone on the side of the road on the way home. He could work through any problem or fix anything in front of him. He was a company man, a constant fixture in the Tesco building, through different owners over the years.

Together, Butch and Linda had two sons, Charles “Chuck” W. Martin, IV and Scott Len Martin. He never missed the opportunity to support his sons in everything they did, including coaching Little League, leading Boy Scouts, and attending band concerts at Cooper High School. He also spent many hours watching nieces and nephews play softball, baseball, soccer, and football, and easily switched support to the black and gold Eagles, watching his grandchildren play football, cheerlead, and perform in numerous high school musicals and choir concerts. He also sat through more ballet recitals and Nutcracker performances to count. He never missed anything they did.

Butch loved his family. He also loved the New Mexico and Colorado mountains, and in the past years, enjoyed traveling with dear friend Judy Graves and brother and sister in law, Ted and Carolyn Martin to casinos from Oklahoma to New Mexico to Louisiana. Hardly ever coming home with more than he left with, except lasting memories and laughs.

Talented with his hands and mechanically skilled, his garage was a workshop that fixed everything with a motor, from lawn mowers to pickup trucks, and the smell of epoxy brings memories of building a pine wood racer with his grandson. Butch spent the rest of this time, and more money than his wife ever knew about, building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes. His “Spirit of Abilene” (a model of the Spirit of St. Louis) won countless awards at airshows across Texas. He was a member of the Abilene RC Society and helped secure Sea Bee Park as a local RC flying field, where he could be found most Saturdays, flying his handcrafted planes, and in some cases, crashing them, but that gave him a new project – rebuilding!

Butch came from a time where dinner was at noon and supper at 5 p.m., which at his house was mainly dictated by the time the dachshund needed to eat. Milkshakes went with hamburgers, and real men carried their plate from the table and helped with the dishes. You never mow the grass before 8 a.m. or before noon on Sunday, and sometimes it’s necessary to water the birds. Things made more sense to him if you explained them using plumbing or machine part references, and despite his fight against technology, he absolutely loved keeping up with his people on Facebook. Napping in his chair while his brother napped on the sofa in the same room was called “visitin,” and that time was extremely important to them. He never wanted to overstay his welcome, but his home was always open to anyone and everyone for as long as they wanted to stay.

You could talk to him for hours and never get bored. He always had a story to tell. He was smart and knew much about the world around him, and what he didn’t know, he made up, and before you knew it, you would be sucked into a whale of a story. You’d only catch on if you knew to recognize the mischief that peered behind his kind eyes and smile.

He was extremely proud of his people. Proud of their accomplishments. Proud they could run companies or play sports or go to med school or get into the University of Texas or teach deaf students or cook a meal or film a news story… no matter how big or how small it felt to us, he made us feel like we accomplished something huge, mainly because we tried our best.

Butch never wanted anyone to worry or fuss over him, but boy did he worry and fuss over his people. His work ethic unwavering, his heart immense. He would genuinely listen to you, and truly cared. He always gave more than he had or had to, in every aspect of his life, because that is what we all are supposed to do. He inspired people to work harder and be better, kinder human beings, just by being himself. He loved God and showed it in the way he lived and loved in his daily life. He was one of a kind. He was our hero.

He was preceded in death by wife, Linda Sue who died July 5, 1998. Also preceded by both parents, Charles and Fay Martin, in-laws, Len Wells Dalton and Velma (Dendy) Dalton of Eastland, sister in law, Barbara (Dalton) and her husband Don Jeffcoat of Cisco, and nephew Eric Lockard of Bixby, Oklahoma, and his faithful companions, Heidi and recently, Max.

He leaves behind a slue of people who adore him. Son Charles W. Martin, IV “Chuck” and wife Chesley (Egan), granddaughters Meghan Elizabeth Martin and Maredith SueAnne Martin of Abilene, grandson Alec Christopher Egan, wife Claire Ainsley (Johnson), and great granddaughter Roosevelt Wilder Egan of Lubbock. Son Scott Len Martin and Kristi Reesing of Abilene. Also, grandchildren Rebekah Brianne Bailey and Jaedyn Brian Bailey of Abilene.

Brother, and best friend, Ted Alan Martin and wife Carolyn of Abilene. Nieces and nephews, Shonda (Martin) and Mark Wright and son Mason, of Cisco, Samantha (Wright) and Austin Conger and son Creede of Granbury, Morgan (Wright) and Leif Johnston of Temple, Karen and Shaun Martin, children Cash and Dylan of Abilene. Leigh Ann (Jeffcoat) Lockard, Erica, Haleigh and Eric of Bixby, Oklahoma, and Shanna (Jeffcoat) James, Gracie and Coleson of Porter. And many other nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Also, dear friend and companion of the past many years, Judy Graves, and her sweet family who always included Butch as family.

Pallbearers: Bryan Archibald, Tim Graves, Jeff Lee, Stacy Long, Shaun Martin, Humberto Silva, Jammie Treat, and Mark Wright. Honorary Pallbearers: Danny Miller, and Bill Rea.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 8, 2018 at Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home Chapel of Faith, 5701 Hwy 277 S, Abilene. Dr. Cliff Stewart will officiate with burial to follow in the adjoining cemetery.

Visitation with family and friends will be Sunday, January 7, 2018, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Elliott-Hamil Chapel of Faith, 5701 Hwy 277 S, Abilene.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Abilene RC Society, P.O. Box 1742, Abilene, Texas 79604, or to Rescue the Animals, SPCA, 4620 N 1st St, Abilene, TX 79603, in honor of his last best friend “Max,” or to a charity of your choice.