Donald Martin

Donald Martin, 94, of Lexington, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2024, surrounded by his loved ones.
He was born June 22, 1930, to Rose and Orville Martin in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the summers, he lived with his grandparents in the Appalachian Mountain area of Kentucky. While with his grandparents, he attended a one room schoolhouse with his cousins, often walking to school barefoot. One summer his grandmother took him to meet his great-grandfather who had served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Donald loved to tell stories about his summer childhood adventures.
After graduating high school, he worked for three years but was only able to earn enough money to attend Georgetown University for one year. Fortunately, he was accepted to Berea College, a tuition free school, where he earned a degree in geology. Students who attend Berea are required to take on one of the school's jobs. Donald's job was making handcrafted fireplace brooms. In later years, he enjoyed taking members of the family to Berea and showing them not only the school, but where and how he made the brooms.
After college, Donald joined the army in December, 1954. He was sent to Monmouth, New Jersey and then to Fort Devens in Massachusetts for training. It was at Fort Devens that he met his wife, Emily. After only eight weeks they knew they were meant to be together and were married. Their marriage of almost sixty-nine years has been a true love story and an example for all of us.
When finished with his training, Donald was sent to Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany to serve with the Army Security Agency. While stationed in Germany, Donald and Emly took as much time as they could to travel throughout Europe. The family spent many evenings looking at pictures they had taken and listening to their stories.
When returning to the United States, Donald attended Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois, where he earned his master's degree. After graduating, he took a teaching position as a high school Earth Science teacher in Rockford, Illinois. Five years later, Donald accepted a teaching position in Lexington, Massachusetts. For thirty years, Donald taught ninth grade Earth Science at Lexington High School (with a brief time at Clarke Middle School). He loved teaching and his family remembers the many hours he poured into grading lab notebooks.
After his retirement in 1995, Donald joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). He was proud to serve as the VFW commander at his post for ten years. Many people knew him as "the man with the poppies." Evey week before Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Donald could be found at Wilson Farms in Lexington distributing poppies and collecting donations which helps disabled veterans.
In addition to his work with the VFW, Donald enjoyed puttering in the yard, spending time with both his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, driving some of his grandchildren to sporting events (known as gramps taxi) and being their greatest fan. He also enjoyed going on family trips.
When Donald passed away, some of the family sat wondering about what wisdom he would have shared for living a long, happy life. Everyone agreed that spending time with family and working in the garden were his greatest joys.
Donald is survived by his wife, Emily (Morrow) of Lexington; his three daughters Bonnie and husband David Osborn of Salem, New Hampshire; Susan and husband Ronald Manabe of La Selva Beach, California; Elizabeth and husband Duncan Lennox of Lexington, Massachusetts. He has seven grandchildren: Anne, James, Thomas, Hannah, Emily, Olivia, Jillian and step granddaughter, Caitlin. He has eight great-grandchildren: Hadley, Sierra, Caerwyn, Caolán, Violet, Anwen, Ashlyn, and Iris. He also had many nieces and nephews.
The family will hold a private celebration of life at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Berea College in his memory. The address is Berea College, C.P.O. Box 2216, Berea, Kentucky 40404 (in memo: Donald Martin, class of 1954).
Berea College is a private institution that was founded in 1855 and today combines academic rigor with a diverse learning community. It was the first integrated, co-educational college in the South, and it has not charged students tuition since 1892. The school is one of the nation's highest ranking Liberal Arts colleges that offers low-income students educational opportunities that would otherwise be beyond their means.
We greatly appreciate your donation in Donald Martin's name to Berea College. Your gift will have a far-reaching impact for students and help Berea College with its mission to help well deserving students like Donald.