Martin John Dempsey

Martin started life in a small Welsh town, as the younger of his parents’ two children. His older sister, Kathleen, was to be his steadfast friend and supporter all his life. Their father was unwell during all of Martin’s young life and died when he was still a child. Their mother, Gwen, struggled to provide for her children, which they repaid by becoming as caring and selfless as she was. At school, Martin excelled in sports and was an excellent runner. He’d spend long summer evenings running up and down the Welsh mountainsides, for fun.

As soon as he was old enough, Martin started work and never stopped. He also travelled to many countries and back to Wales to work and pay for the next trip. Eventually, he moved to the USA, using his amazing skill at Squash, as a teacher of this burgeoning sport.

Settling in Dallas, he made many friends and honed his music abilities, learning classical guitar, which led him to be a great improviser and band member, playing rhythm guitar with assorted musician pals. His abiding passion for football/soccer led him to later join a team, which gave him immense pleasure and not a little success.

Martin’s openness and easy friendliness made him a natural promoter for anything he espoused, from fitness regimens, poetry, movies and books. A lifelong fascination for WWII military aircraft once led to a home visit by American CIA agents, wanting to check out this knowledgeable Welshman, who was writing to their embassy asking for aircraft logistics and details. A teenage Martin was nonplussed!

Martin found he enjoyed the technical, but physically demanding, jobs in communications and he excelled at grasping the quickly changing advancements in the industry. Before long, he started his own cabling company, in partnership with a friend, which became ZingTelecom, Inc.

Through Zing, Martin met many new people; employees, clients, suppliers and befriended almost every one of them. Many of them were cross-pollinated with his other friends, from music, soccer and fitness; all of them “Friends of Martin”.

When Martin met Ulrike, they became a couple immediately. Ulrike was smart, vivacious and tall! At 6 ft. 4 inches, Martin was comfortable in Texas, after being “taken for a beanstalk” back in Wales. They lived in University Park, handy for Ulrike’s academic post at Southern Methodist University (SMU). After they married, they purchased a house nearby as a ‘fixer-upper’. Martin, working almost single-handedly, made it a lovely home. They had two weddings! One in the backyard of their first home – an SMU rental property – and then a second one in Minden, Germany, allowing more of their European families and friends to attend.

Martin and Ulrike eventually completed their family by adopting, at birth, Oskar, who is now eight. Nothing in Martin’s life prepared him for the extreme delight of being “Oskar’s Dad”. After missing out on a ‘father-son’ relationship of his own due to his Dad’s ill health, Martin was determined to be an excellent father himself. The exploits of these two ‘lads’ could fill a book!

Last year, while the family sojourned in Copenhagen, where Ulrike was teaching on a year abroad, Martin and Oskar swam in freezing water, visited the zoo animals weekly, skated on frozen lakes and skateboarded through town. Family bike-rides were frequent, as cars were hired only as needed.

In June this year, the family returned to Dallas and their dog, Coco, who’d waited faithfully for them. Life continued for them all until the evening of Monday, October 18, when Martin and Coco returned from their walk and Martin, saying he felt unwell, went upstairs. Ulrike found him collapsed and our dear, dear friend was gone.

Martin is deeply mourned by his wife Ulrike Schultze; son Oskar Dempsey; sister Kathleen Edwards, Lynne Richardson and countless others.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Martin’s favorite charity, https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=cb7d83" style="color: #0000FF;">The Stewpot, 1835 Young Street, Dallas, Texas, 75201, which provides services for the homeless in Dallas.