Walter G. Martin

Funeral services for Walter was held on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at the United Methodist Church, Renwick. Visitation was Monday, July 9, 2018, the United Methodist Church, Renwick with Masonic Rites. Burial for Walter and Betty was in Elmwood Cemetery with Military Honors conducted. Walter G. Martin was born June 20, 1930, to Bert Clair and Pearl (Trask) Martin of Renwick. Walter attended Renwick High School and graduated as Valedictorian of his high school class in 1947. He went on to Iowa State University and was a member of the Air Force ROTC program where he graduated from in 1951. He met his wife Betty while visiting his sister in Nashville, TN. Betty and Walter were married on October 5, 1952 at the Park Avenue Baptist Church in Nashville, TN. After their wedding they drove up the Alcan Highway together in a 1948 Kaiser where Walter was stationed in Anchorage, AK during the Korean Conflict. He was very proud of his service in the military and in 1954 Walter and Betty moved back to Renwick where they started farming with Walter's parents. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve where he retired as Major from the Mason City 174th Refueling Squadron. Walter...[more]

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s very proud of his farming career as he claimed to have had the first self-propelled combine in Wright County. He also had the first 12 row planter in Wright County. He liked to brag about how the self-propelled combine was much better than the thrashing machine he grew up helping his Dad and sister operate. To this union two sons were born; Dennis in 1956 and Tom in 1958. Walter attended most all of Dennis and Tom's high school activities and as a family they enjoyed horse shows, Shetland ponies and trips to the cabin in Minnesota where they enjoyed water skiing and snowmobiling. Walter loved trap shooting at Izaak Walton and also loved to hunt birds and coons. He would spend hours in the basement loading his own shotgun shells, where he also loaded brass ammo for his collection of rifles and pistols. Walter was very active in the Renwick United Methodist Church, Viona Lodge #538 of Renwick, and Commander of the American Legion in Renwick, and many other groups. Walter was very proud to organize the Renwick-Hardy-Vernon Veterans Memorial Foundation and was instrumental in designing and constructing the beautiful Veterans Monument in Renwick. In 2011 Walter and Betty moved from the farm to the Meadows in Clarion, IA. Walter died on July 6, 2018, at the Iowa Specialty Hospital, Clarion, at the age of 88. He is survived by his sons, Dennis (Diane Reed) Martin and Tom (Candice) Martin; grandchildren, Jessica (John) McCulley, Derek Palmertree, Jacob (Jenna) Martin, Michael Martin, Benjamin Martin, Lindsey Williams, Haley Martin, and Elizabeth Martin; great-grandchildren, Eric McCulley, Alex McCulley, and Conner Martin; sister, Margaret Lubbert; brother-in-law James Murray Anderson wife Bobbie, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Walter was preceded in death by his wife Betty; parents, Bert and Pearl Martin; sisters, Lois Nelson and Marian Buchanan.