John S. Martin Jr.

John Satchell Martin, Jr., age 88, of Sioux Falls, passed away on November 25, 2006 at Sioux Valley Hospital. John was born in Boise, Idaho, on April 1, 1918 to John S. Martin, Sr., and Nellie Bryan (relative of William Jennings Bryan). He was raised in Washington D.C., Denver, and the Boulder, Colorado area. As a youth he enjoyed being a paper boy for Embassy Row and the White House. He graduated from Durango High School in 1938 and then attended the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1940, he joined the United States Army, HQ Company 168th Field Artillery, and then transferred to the United States Air Force in 1942 where he served on ground crews in Arizona. He married Dorothy Graves on December 24, 1946 in Denver. She died August 25, 2000. After WWII he joined the Bureau of Reclamation as a Survey Party Chief and worked on the Davis Dam in Arizona. In 1950, he returned to the Denver office as a planner and designer of dams. He retired after 34 years in 1973. John and his wife spent many hours hunting and fishing the waters of Colorado and South Dakota. He also enjoyed hiking. John was a member of Highlands Lodge A.F. & A.M. in Denver. He liked to design and build model airplanes-both rubber band powered and larger models with 8' wing spans and 1/5 h.p. gasoline engines. He did not smoke and had NO use for tobacco or beer or whiskey. He is survived by his sisters-in-law, Mavis Gourley of Sioux Falls, SD, and Helen Graves of Clark, SD; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, one sister, and the couples' two favorite pups: Ali and Jessica. Memorials may be directed to Hope Haven or the Sioux Falls Humane Society. Visitation will begin at 9:00 am on Wednesday, November 29th at the Inn on Westport in Sioux Falls. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 am on Wednesday at the Inn on Westport and also at 3:00 pm at Furness Funeral Home in Clark, SD. Interment following at the Rosehill Cemetery in Clark.