C Martin Vincent

My husband, Marty, of 70 plus years, passed away on February 23, 2025. He would have been 94 in two months.

He came into the world in Toledo, Ohio, where he resided until age 21 when his father was transferred to Buffalo, N.Y. His parents were Walker and Helen Vincent. He graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in Toledo. He then attended Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., a liberal arts college not suited to his talents or interests.

Living in Amherst, N.Y. now, the University of Buffalo was just a few blocks from his home, so he decided to attend, luckily for me, since I was a student there. Thus began our long life together. We married in 1954 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Buffalo. He graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, followed by a Certification from The American Institute of Industrial Engineering.

We moved to West New York, New Jersey where he worked for Hinde and Dauch Corporation in nearby Hoboken. I continued my advertising career across the Hudson in New York City. My career was abruptly halted when our daughter, Valarie, was born and Marty got transferred to Meriden, Connecticut to manage a new plant for Hinde and Dauch.

Marty was in The Naval Reserve and was flown to Southern California for his yearly duty. He came back with glowing reports of the beauty and warmth of the California coast. He asked me if I would move there. I thought about it for thirty seconds.

Aerospace jobs were plentiful in 1959, and we were "Depression Babies," (not many of us), coming into the workforce. He received several offers and accepted one from North American Aviation. Soon we were heading west on Rte. 66 with our two-year-old in the back seat.

We found an apt. in the Hollywood Rivera, but Marty was determined to get a house. I found an ad in the paper for a "builder distress" property near South Shores. When I called the builder, I found out it was actually in Portuguese Bend. "Back East" we'd heard of the famous landslide in Portuguese Bend, and I didn't even want to look, but Marty with his open mind, wanted to. Thank goodness he did for other than ten years in Fallbrook, we've lived here ever since.

Our daughter Alison was born one year later.

Life in the Portuguese Bend Club was like living in a vacation resort. The beach became the center of most of our activities. Paddle tennis brought many people together for lifetime friend ships. There was constant activity on the courts and three times a year we had three-day tournaments followed by an evening party. Friday nights there were also barbeques around the fire pits and the wine flowed.

Marty also worked for Autonetics and Northrop but his independent spirit led him to want his own business. He bought San Pedro Boatworks and a new adventure began. His business acumen lifted the yard into profitability.

Marty retired in his sixties and we moved to Fallbrook and built a beautiful house on an avocado ranch. He had always wanted to build a house. Although we had a contractor, he did all the wiring himself. He had many other talents such as building rock walls and laying bricks. He also wrote computer programs for fun such as a program to win at Blackjack.

After ten years, I wanted to come home to PBC. Marty agreed.

Marty deviated from the conventional path, seeing opportunities others didn't see, always future-minded. (He told me as a child he read science fiction while other kids were reading comic books.)

He loved parties, was "quick with the wit," and was always the first to arrive at a party and last to leave.

Marty is survived by his wife, Colleen, his daughters Valarie Good and Alison Vincent, grandchild Alexander Good (Alison), grandchild Natalie Oliver (Dallas), great-grandchildren Ashton Good and Ava Good.