Let the good times roll.

Early Life

Martin was born at 8:00 a.m. on February 8, 1928, in the southeast bedroom (before the house was remodeled) at 1209 McLish. At the age of 4, Martin went on summer vacation to Corpus Christi and got stung by a jelly fish. He got stung again in Hawaii while serving in the Navy. Martin said that from that point forward he had a very healthy “respect” for anything that swims in salt water.

In February of 1955, Martin received a phone call from a friend who had a cousin from Canada who was touring the southern United States. The cousin had a 20 year old daughter with her and they were inviting a few friends over to entertain the daughter. The visitor was Phyllis and before the night was over, Martin knew that was the girl he wanted to marry. Martin went out with Phyllis the next to nights and on the third night they stopped in a cow pasture where he proposed to Phyllis. They married on June 9, 1956, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and were married for 60 years before her death in September of 2016.

During the spring of 1956, they had a house built on Northwest Boulevard in Ardmore. They had two sons. Bob, who was born on November 19, 1957, and Steve, who was born on their 5th wedding anniversary, June 9, 1961.