Steven James Martin, Jr.

Steven James Martin Jr. (aka "Stevie", "Steve", "Martin" and "Husbeast" to those who loved him) was the most beloved, generous and funny guy the world has ever known.

Despite the less than average life span, Steve did not live an average life.

Born on November 21, 1982 to Kim and Steve Martin Sr., he was a handful and a half. With love (and a smack upside the head or two) his parents were able to steer him towards a path that straightened him up some: the Marine Corps.

In the early days of boot camp, Steve met fellow Marine Rick Sheldon and, eventually, Rick's sister Michele. Let's just say what came next resulted in Rick trying to kill Steve by hanging him off a balcony and, nine months later, a beautiful baby boy, Hunter, was born. Unsurprisingly, Hunter is growing up to be a carbon copy of his dad in appearance and actions.

After a string of jobs he hated but paid the bills, Steve decided that the starving artist route was the one for him. Years of experience drawing on himself for no reason whatsoever thrust him into a career where he got to draw on other people earning the magnificent sum of less than $10k a year.

You must understand that once Steve got into something he REALLY got into it. He understood that excellence requires learning and learning requires sucking at something and working hard to get better.

As a result, over the years, Steve became one of the best, most successful and respected tattoo artists in the industry and often bragged to his attorney wife about making way more money than she does (and then proceeding to spend most of said money on her.) The unique style of his work and his signature dots make anything he tattooed immediately recognizable to anyone who knows anything about the tattoo world.

Speaking of wives, Steve's first wife, Shea, blessed him with a tiny thing of incomparable beauty, his daughter Lily. Thankfully, she is not a carbon copy of her dad, but she did inherit his gorgeous blue eyes, sense of humor and love of drawing.

Eventually Steve met and married his (by her account) favorite wife, Carolina. Everyone thinks they have the best love story ever but Steve and Carol won that contest hands down. Their marriage is the embodiment of "opposites attract" in many ways (with the exception of their shared love of Paulo Coelho, rubies, 634, Star Wars, Stephen King and inappropriate jokes) but their love for each other was so immense that it held it all together.

Carol came around with a bit of baggage in the form of three little boys: Gio, Lucas and Matteo and Steve accepted and treated them as his own (which included all the love and all the yelling when necessary.) In return, the boys adored Steve and referred to him as Summer Dad.

We would be amiss if we failed to mention Steve's love of bodybuilding. Working out was a daily part of his routine, and he was beholden to the gym and copious amounts of oats, egg whites and tilapia for that sexy body of his. He loved competing in the sport and, most importantly, never skipped leg day.

Steve was truly grateful for his parents. He was grateful for his siblings Casie, Kelie and Tyler and their children who loved and were terrified of him all at the same time.

He was grateful for having the dearest, funniest and most loyal friends near and far, specially his Black 13 crew and their families, whom he considered part of his own.

He was grateful for Carol's family, which became his own (specially Sofia… he had been plotting to steal her.) He also lived every man's dream of never having to talk to his mother in law (she doesn't speak English.)

He was grateful for Karen, Michele and Shea for participating in creating and raising his biggest accomplishments in life, Hunter and Lily. He was grateful for Hector for allowing him to be a part of Gio, Lucas and Matteo's lives.

Since the cause of death has yet to be determined, let's go with "Steve lost his life in May battling for the Rebel Alliance against Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Kylo Ren AND several bounty hunters all at once, using his military/ninja skills to save the galaxy. He also ended up killing Jar Jar Binks in a friendly fire mishap. You're welcome." And if you are disputing the viability of this having happened because of the discrepancy in the timelines, you're a nerd.

On a serious note, Steve touched many lives and will be terribly missed.

The family will greet guests and share memories on Saturday (June 4, 2016) from 3 to 5 p.m.in the chapel of East Lawn Funeral Home. The funeral service will follow at 5 p.m. in the chapel of East Lawn Funeral Home.

Committal services will be the following day, Sunday (June 5, 2016) at 2 p.m. in the Garden of Memories of East Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park. Military honors will be provided by American Legion Post 3/265. Anyone wearing a suit will be immediately turned away.

Online condolences may be made to the Martin family by visiting www.eastlawnkingsport.com. East Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park has the honor of serving the Martin family.