Clyde O. Martz

Clyde Martz, distinguished attorney and beloved father and husband, passed away at home in Albuquerque Tuesday May 18th after a long illness. The son of Clyde and Elizabeth Martz, he was born August 14th, 1921 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He grew up there with his mother and older brother Robert, his father having died before his birth. He was a member of the Innocents Senior Honorary Society as well as editor of the school paper and president of his fraternity at the University of Nebraska. He attended Harvard Law School, interrupted by service as an officer on the submarine USS Tilefish during World War II. He married Ann Spieker in 1947 and they were inseparable until her death in 2004. They moved to Boulder and Clyde began teaching at the University of Colorado Law School, where he wrote the first casebook of Natural Resource Law. He became a founder of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and was a guest professor at several other law schools. After 15 years as a professor at CU, he joined the Davis Graham and Stubbs law firm and practiced for 25 years. During this time he served as Assistant Attorney General for Lands and Resources under President Johnson, Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado, and as the Solicitor of the Department of Interior under President Carter. He argued and won a case before the Supreme Court. He also taught at University of Denver Law School and was one of the founders of the CU Natural Resources Law Center. He was an exemplary and memorable teacher, mentor, counselor and advocate for clients, attorneys and students throughout his long career. In a very real way he was a father of Natural Resource Law in this country. He is survived by his children Robert and Nancy, his daughter-in-law Charlotte, and his grandchildren Colin and Julia. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Helen Martz, his nieces Joan Schumaker, Janet Ketover, and Susan Olsen, and his nephews Dick and David Williams and John Spieker. He was preceded in death by his brother Robert and his beloved wife Ann. He had prodigious energy and creativity for every part of his life. While he worked incredibly hard to accomplish so much professionally, he just as energetically found time to take his family camping, skiing, boating, rafting and hiking. He climbed the Third Flatiron and the Grand Teton with his son and rode horses with his daughter. He built innumerable gardens and ponds. He was a creative and prolific carpenter, building several additions to the family’s home by himself. He travelled with Ann to more than forty countries. He impressed and inspired all who knew him, and he will be very much missed by his family and by many others. A Memorial Service and Reception will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Boulder at 10:30 AM on Friday June 4th.