Martinez Horacio

Horacio D. Martinez M.D. Horacio Duarte Martinez died peacefully at home on Thursday, August 7, 2014. He was a retired anesthesiologist, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and founding member of the Colombian Society of Anesthesiologists in 1949. Horacio was born May 2, 1918, in Malaga, Colombia to Don Aristides Martinez Martinez and Dona Elisa Duarte Blum. As a young man he moved to Bogota, where he met and married Mercedes Gutierrez Restrepo, with whom he celebrated 67 years of marriage in July. A precocious student, he began his pre-medical studies in 1933, eventually completing a fellowship in New York under George T. Pack M.D. He served on the staff of Memorial Hospital (Sloan-Kettering) before returning to Bogota, Colombia to practice. In 1954, Horacio was granted an anesthesia fellowship to McGill University in Montreal, where he furthered his training as a protege of Dr. Harold Griffith and of Dr. Wilder Penfield. After a brief return to Colombia, he eventually settled with his family in the United States, first in Cleveland, on the staff of University Hospitals-CWRU, and finally in Norfolk, Virginia, where he joined Dr. Julius J. Snyder as one of the original associates in the practice that would eventually grow to become a part of Atlantic Anesthesia. In 1983, Horacio and Mercedes retired to "Tramontana" in southern Albemarle. Graced with boundless physical as well as mental vigor, Horacio became a champion planter of trees, builder of fences, and engineer of countless new farm projects. In quieter moments, he could invariably be found in his library reading or listening to music with a furry companion at his feet. Known for his broad wealth of knowledge, he was equally at ease discussing tractor maintenance as he was ancient history. Apart from his professional accomplishments, what most distinguished Horacio was his profound love for his family. He was a kind and generous man. Horacio was preceded in death by his daughter, Juanita; and by his younger brother, Gonzalo. Survivors include his wife, Mercedes; his children, Diego Martinez and Lynn Phillips of Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, Antonio Martinez and Marion Bittinger of Verona, Virginia, and Mariana Martinez of Charlottesville, Virginia; his grandchildren, Cristina, Melissa, Lara, Gabriel, and Adrian; and his great-grandchildren, Elena, Lucia, Theo, and Betty. He also leaves much-loved siblings, Alfonso, Sixta Tulia "Tatula" Aminta, Carmen Sofia "Kamensha," and their extended families. A memorial mass will be held Saturday, August 30, 2014, at 11 a.m. at St. George's Catholic Church in Scottsville, Virginia with a reception to follow. Donations in Horacio's name may be made to Hospice of the Piedmont, the SPCA, the Charlottesville Free Clinic, or another charity of your choice. "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." - Rabindrananth Tagore