Obituary of Denis C Martin

Denis Martin was born on August 19, 1928 in Liverpool, England. He was the seventh child of 8 children. He attended high school at St. Edwards, a Catholic boys school run by Irish Christian Brothers. He attended Liverpool University and obtained a degree in Civil Engineering. He excelled at many sports, but his passion was soccer and rugby. He’d play soccer on Saturdays and rugby on Sundays! He joined the Royal Air Force but that career was short-lived since he contracted pneumonia and was discharged. St. Edwards held Sunday evening dances with live bands for their alumni (called the Old Boys Club dance) and at one of these in 1948, he met a young woman named Muriel Mathison. They walked out together and he asked for her phone number. Neither had a pen or pencil so Muriel wrote her number with her lipstick on a scrap of paper and gave it to him. (Denny carried this paper in his wallet for many years even after they were married. One day, one of his children gave him a new wallet and found the paper and asked what it was. It was then framed with a heart-shaped mat and it hangs on their living room wall to this day.) Denny and Muriel married on June 4, 1954. They sailed to Canada on their wedding day and settled in the Toronto area of Canada. During the years 1955-1961, they had 5 girls and Denny was active in the local Rugby clubs, being named “Most Valuable Player” many times. In late 1961, he was offered a job with Boeing and they moved to the United States for the first time in February, 1962! Their first home was in Renton, Washington and soon after settling in, their first son was born! In 1964, they moved to Bellevue. Denny worked at The Boeing Company for 30 years. His more memorable accomplishments were: helping to design the overhead crane systems in several manufacturing buildings of the Everett plant; a special assignment in Yemen for 3 months and spending a year in Santa Monica, CA while working on the new Korean Airlines terminal at LAX. He and his wife of 58 years have been members of St. Louise Parish in Bellevue since 1964 and have been very active over the years, being involved with the Parish Council, Catholic Family Movement (CFM), Evenings for the Engaged, the Renew Group and Forever Young. He also coached a girls’ soccer team and volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul. Denny continued his pursuit of sports, taking up golf and playing doubles tennis into his 70’s. He and wife Muriel loved travelling and have seen many parts of the world, including Australia, China, Thailand, France, the Panama Canal, Hawaii and several cruises. Denny was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, an incurable lung disease, in October of 2005. He had been on supplemental oxygen since this time. He died peacefully at home on Sunday, October 7, 2012. He is survived by his wife, Muriel, his daughters Cathy (& Brian), Liz, Anne (& Griff), Trish (& Mike), Julie (& Steve), and son, Jim (& Betsy), and by his grandchildren: Scott, Rich, Brian, Denise, Tara, Gina Marie, Jessica, Grace, Alex, Nick and Melina, Samantha, Leah and Hannah. His funeral mass will be held on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012 at St. Louise Church in Bellevue at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to: The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/tributes