G. Paul Martin

MARTIN , G. Paul
Gladwyn Paul Martin was born in Paso Robles, California on July 11, 1927, the second son of Dwight Andrew Martin and Gladys Aleen Martin. He was a graduate of Paso Robles High School in 1945, where he earned six varsity letters in football, basketball and track. Immediately after graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served aboard the U.S.S. LST-982, which transported Japanese prisoners among various Pacific islands, including Okinawa, the Marianas, the Carolines, and the Philippines, until the ship was retired in 1946. After the war ended, he worked for the Golden State Distributorship in Paso Robles, and later he became the proprietor of Martin's Market in Shandon. He married Panayiota (Betty) Boukidis in San Luis Obispo on January 1, 1960.
Paul's career in distrib ution and trucking took him from California to New Jersey and Illinois and permanently back to California in the late 1980s. He was a sales route driver for Foremost Dairy Distributorship and he drove an 18-wheeler for Knudsen Creamery Company in the 1960s. His career accelerated in 1970, when he was named Knudsen's Director of Transportation. He then joined Albertson's Supermarkets of Southern California, and subsequently became Vice President of Transportation for A&P Supermarkets at their New Jersey headquarters. In the 1980s, Paul took on the presidency of two freight companies - Lifschulz Fast Freight and Wescar Freight System. Then, in 1987, he joined Dart International as Vice President, and later as President, where he worked for more than 19 years. From 1998 onward, he was a resident of Claremont, having purchased the boyhood home of baseball star Mark McGuire from McGuire's parents.
Paul's life was charact erized by diligent and conscientious work, and punctuated by recreation, athletics and sports. He was a trusted lieutenant to Dart chairman, Rod Dedeaux, until his passing last year. He continued to work 30 to 40 hours per week there, even after his leukemia diagnosis in March of 2006. He loved to attend and watch professional and collegiate sporting events, and played one-on-one basketball until the age of 75. He courageously battled Acute Myeloid Leukemia for nearly a year, before succumbing on January 8, 2007.
He is survived b y his wife of 47 years, Panayiota, three sons (Terry Lee Martin, Richard John Martin, and Randall Craig Martin), six grandchildren (Michelle Leanne Juri, Christina Marie Barba, Paul Andrew Martin, Kenneth David Martin, Alison Patricia Martin and Brian Robinson Martin), and three great-grandchildren.
A private interment will be held at Pierce Brothers Valhalla in Burbank. A memorial celebration will be held at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont on Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 1:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that blood or monetary donations be made to the American Red Cross.