James “Jim” Martin, hometown football star, outdoorsman, poet, loving brother, husband, father and grandfather passed away peacefully, December 5, 2014, in Los Banos Hospital after a brief illness. Lucid until the end, and without pain, Jim simply went to sleep. He lived a full life of 80 years, almost all of it in the town he loved – Los Banos.
Born James Homer Martin, June 7, 1934 – Seminole, Oklahoma, he was part of the historic Dust Bowl migration to California. In 1939, young Jim and ten members of the Martin family (and two dogs) crowded into an old Model A and drove dirt highways across the country, taking many weeks, earning gas and food money along the way as farm field workers picking beans and oranges. Jim’s mother, Bertie, recalled that they arrived in California with 13 cents. It was in Los Banos’ high school, then Westside High, that Jim came into public view. A natural athlete, he starred in several sports. But football was his calling. The San Francisco Examiner newspaper twice voted Jim “Northern California Prep Star of the Week” for his pinpoint passing in 1951 and 1952. He held the Los Banos record for most touchdown passes in a season for 57 years until surpassed by his grandnephew, Eric Martin, in 2008. The Westside High coach described Jim in the Examiner as the most accurate passer he had ever seen.
After trying college and a stint in the U.S. Army, Jim worked as a roustabout in Alaska, even panning for gold. But his heart was in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Banos; he returned and worked for his dad, Bert, hauling hay. He then served as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier for 21 years until retirement. Like the whole Martin family, Jim was an avid fisherman and hunter, sharing many days field with brothers Leon and Dickie. Late in life, he dabbled in writing and became a poet of note. In 2004, Jim was presented the Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry by the International Library of Poetry. During the past ten years, Jim and his beloved wife, Annie, became active members at the Family Worship Center. “Brother Jim,” as he was called, became the Center’s resident poet, biblical scriptures writer and short story teller. He continued writing in the hospital-even as his condition weakened.
Jim is preceded in death by his wife or forty-one years, Annie (May 2014), and most of his immediate family-Bert and Bertie Martin, brothers Haskell, Leon, Dickie and sister Wanda. He is survived by sisters LeVada (Ernie) Silva and Genevieve (Michael) Matherly, son, Jimmy Martin, grandson Bryan Aganza, sisters-in-law Charlene and Darlene Martin and many nephews and nieces.
A celebration of Jim’s life will be held Thursday, December 18, at 11:00 AM at the Family Worship Center, 19985 Mervel Avenue, Los Banos, CA 93635, 209-826-9443. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Center at the above address.
Services are under the direction of Whitehurst Funeral Chapel~Los Banos.