Ramon B. Martin

Preceded in death by parents, Ray and Margaret Martin; stepmom, Ina Martin; brothers, James Martin and Jean Martin.

Survived by siblings, Margaret (Bob) Poole, Rich (Tina) Martin, Robert (Denice) Martin; numerous nieces and nephews.

Ramon was born July 22, 1928, to Ray Martin and Margaret (Schmitz) Martin.  He was their firstborn.  Brothers James and Jean were also born of this union.  Life during the Depression was hard but they always had food on the table and a roof over their head. 

Ramon recalled always have pets in the home…. dogs, cats and once an injured squirrel!  He always had a soft spot for his pets.  There were his companion and his friends.

When Ramon was 14 years old, Jim was 10, Jean was 8, their mother, Margaret, died. His father was concerned about being a single parent.  He found another chance at love when he met Ina Stuter at their worksite, Hinky Dinky grocery store warehouse.  They had a whirlwind romance and married six months later.  His Dad was 41 and Ina was 18 years old.  Ramon was 16 at the time and was not too happy about his dad marrying someone only 2 years older than him. 

It was seven years after they married that the only daughter was born. She was named Margaret in honor of Ramon’s mother.  Ramon had a soft-spot and special love for his sister.  “She’s the only girl in the family” he would tell everyone. Even though he had not been around babies very often, he would carry her around and take care of her during her young years.  They had a special relationship throughout his life. About four years later, Richard was born and then Robert followed 18 months later.

Ramon joined the Army right out of high school.  He enlisted in 1946, at the tail-end of WWII, as an artillery specialist and was stationed in South Korea, just by the North Korean border during the post-war occupation.  He was very proud of being an excellent marksman!  He also learned how much he hated the cold weather as the barracks had very little heat and so he was always cold during their winter season.

After the war, Ramon started working at Hinky Dinky in their warehouse.  His first job was loading and unloading trains and trucks and moving it to the appropriate area in the warehouse.  He told us some of the bags of food weighed close to what he weighed, (128 lbs.), so he kept in good shape just by working! He was eventually promoted to be the shipping and receiving clerk and remained in that position until the company was sold when Ramon was 56 years old. 

Due to his age, Ramon was not able to find another job.  He was very frugal with his money in his later years and was able to live the rest of his life on his pension and Social Security. He never married and lived at home all through the first half of his life.  His father had told him “This will always be your home.” After his father’s death in 1974, Ramon stayed at the house to help Ina with all that was needed to keep a home up, including paying many of the bills.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting, watching football and throwing horseshoes with his friends.  He often spent his summers at a friends’ cabin near the Missouri River.  Ramon also enjoyed being with friends at a couple of local bars and playing cards late into the night. This never stopped him from getting up at 4:00am and going to work!  He had a massive heart-attack at age 61.  He never drank after that and had also given up smoking cold turkey before that happened. 

Ramon had a soft spot for underdogs and for those who had less than he. He gave money to friends and never expected it to be repaid.  He gave to numerous charities throughout his later years.  In 2021, he gave money to 28 different charities!  He receives mail from so many charities due to the support he had given them in the past.  He never desired any recognition or thanks for his generosity. “It was just something you do.”

When Ramon was 77, one of his closest living friends, Barbara Moore, who had moved to southern TX a year or two before then, had back surgery and was paralyzed from the waist down.  Ramon sold everything he had and moved to Mission TX to be her nursemaid. His only response when asked why he did that was “She was my friend.”  He cared for her for five years until her death.  He loved living in warm TX and stayed there another 12 years.  When his dementia and his need for help was such that, he could no longer live on his own, he left his beloved warm TX.  He lived in Papillion with his brother, Richard, and family, for 20 months before the Lord took him home. 

Ramon lived a long and honorable life. May he rest in peace in the presence of the Lord!