Lawrence J Martin

Obituary Lawrence J. Martin Larry was born in Newport, Rhode Island on July 7, 1920 to Mary Hussey and Jacob Martin. He was 1 of 4 siblings Harry, Pauline, Eleanor and dad being the youngest. When Larry was either 2 or 3 his mom passed away-cause unknown. Larry never talked about his younger years. His father remarried and the family moved to Lucerne Valley, CA where he had some of his fondest memories. When he would go to his Uncle Dooley and Aunt Tilley's ranch he loved to ride out into the desert with his .22 and shoot rabbit and squirrels and bring back his catch so his Aunt could make up stew for dinner. He loved his summers there. His sister Pauline married John Hillman and had 2 sons; Pete Hillman played football at USC and Joe Hillman played basketball for Indiana Hoosier under Bobby Knight in 1987. Larry's Aunt Ruth Carol Hussey was an Academy Award nominated actress and had a role in a movie with Bob Hope. Larry enlisted in the Navy on November 17, 1937 with permission from his father as he was only 17. When he was 21 he was in Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked. Larry was on the USS Tucker (DD-374) and was one of the few Petty Officers on board so it was his responsibility to get the ship up and running and get it out of the harbor. Later in the war he became part of what was called the Forward Observer which partnered the Navy and a platoon of Marines to go ashore on islands in the Pacific where they would proceed to the highest point on the island to observe any Japanese ships. Some of these islands were already occupied by the Japanese. He talked of this as one of the highlights of his military career. During his naval career he was on several ships including the USS McCormick, USS Cushing and the USS Yorktown. Before retiring Larry became Lt. Commander which was the highest ranking of an enlisted man. He was also Captain of two ships and his shore duty was often a recruiting officer. Larry met Judy Sundberg in Hawaii and the two were married in Corpus Christy, TX in 1954. He retired from the Navy in 1958 and went to work for Boeing; because of his military background he worked in High Security which he called the "black box". He retired from Boeing when Judy became ill. They were married for 25 years before she passed away. Prior to the death of their spouses, Lawrence (Judy) and Marie (Paul) were both active with the Driftwood Dance Club and several bowling leagues at Secoma Lanes from 1960 to 1980. When Larry and Judy were married they bought property at Ocean Shores and built a home where Judy's sister Dorothy and brother in law Jim lived. Larry and Jim loved to go on fishing trips and golf at Ocean Shores Golf course. After Judy died, Larry stayed down at Ocean Shores to live. Several years after both of their mates passed away, Marie and Larry went on a two month cruise as friends on the Stella Solaris around South America; where they fell in love. Larry married Marie Grebe on Oct 1, 1982 and they were married for 32 years before Marie passed away on June 15, 2014. Throughout their marriage they enjoyed taking cruises and traveling. For many years they took one cruise a year until their health slowed them down and made it necessary to remain home and reminisce about the trips they had taken together. They also enjoyed going to Arizona to see the Seattle Mariners Spring Training and visiting Marie's sister Midge and husband Jim and their family in California. In his later years Larry loved to read his newspaper, watch the evening news, golf and watch the Seattle Seahawks. Larry is survived by his only daughter, Paula (Robert) Elsdon; niece, Patti (Jim) Ricketts; sister-in-law, Margaret (Jim) Sweeney of Saratoga, California; and numerous nephews. Larry is preceded in death by his brother, Harry; sisters, Pauline and Eleanor and his wives, Judy and Marie. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, December 1, 2014, 11:00am at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tacoma. A Rosary will be recited on Sunday, November 30, 2014 at 7:00pm at Gaffney Funeral Home Chapel. Interment with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the charity of your choice. Please leave online condolences at www.gaffneycares.com. Arrangements by Gaffney Funeral Home, 253-572-6003.