Albert Benton Martin

Albert "Ben" Martin passed away peacefully on January 17, 2024, in Richardson, Texas at the age of 96. He was born in November, 1927 to H. Albert Martin and Olive Martin in Martha, Oklahoma, on a farm, the youngest of three children. On the farm, Ben would help with the routine farm and ranch chores, milking cows and caring for the horses and the chickens. After the death of his father in about 1930, when Ben was three years old, his family including aunts and uncles moved from Oklahoma to the Texas Panhandle and settled in Seagraves where they established farms and businesses. Ben's Uncle Sam Chennault was the patriarch of the family and a Justice of the Peace there.

His formative years included growing up as a teenager in World War II, and Ben was shaped by it. His older brother James served in the U.S Army Air Corp in Europe as a tail gunner on a bomber. His older brother-in-law Jesse Criswell served in the Marines in the Pacific and most notably in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Ben wanted to join the fight, and at age 17, as soon as he graduated from Seagraves High School and with his mother's permission, Ben joined the Navy. He headed off to San Diego, California, for boot camp and then went to the Pacific, serving first on the tanker U.S.S Aucilla (AO-56) and then on the Battleship U.S.S Tarawa (CV-40) as a Fireman First class. He sailed to many places in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from Saudi Arabia, to India, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Philippine Islands and Hawaii. Ben served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1947 and received the Wold War II Victory Medal.

Growing up mostly in Seagraves, Ben accompanied his mother Olive, his Aunt Mable and his Uncle Sam Chennault to services at the Seagraves Baptist Church. His Uncle Sam was a deacon in the church and Ben was baptized there.

It was on his return home from the war that Ben met the love of his life, his wife Callie Martin (L.), in about 1949. They married in 1951 and were happily married until her death in December, 2002, married for over 51 years.

Ben is survived by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Denny R. Martin and his wife Suzanne, Deloris Boyce, Christopher Martin, Preston Martin, Emily Caldwell, Ricky Boyce, Treva Thomasson, Shannon Boyce and Shandra Krause, and numerous and wonderful great grandchildren.

Life Work- After leaving the Navy in 1947, Ben started his career as an insurance adjuster, special agent, and claims manager with an insurance company in Lubbock, Texas. In the course of his career he worked primarily in Dallas for other insurance companies. In his early years, he worked as a "Storm Trooper" moving with the family to areas which had sustained heavy storm damage, such as Houston, which sometimes required a stay of 1 to 3 years. In later years he worked in representing his insurance company in workers compensation cases before the Industrial Accident Board. The family lived primarily in Dallas but also lived in Fort Worth, Houston, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A visitation for Albert will be held Saturday, January 27, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Sparkman Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 1029 South Greenville Ave, Richardson, TX 75081.

Following the visitation will be a graveside service from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Greenwood Cemetery, 3020 Oak Grove Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204. There will be no formal procession to the cemetery.