Martin Gary Soll

Martin G. Soll
April 10, 1945 – September 21, 2023
Martin "Marty" Soll passed away Thursday, September 21 at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. He was 78 years old. Marty was born to Carroll and Sylvia Soll (née Browdy) in Kansas City, Missouri, the second of two children, joining older sister Roberta. While still a baby, Marty's family moved to El Monte, CA, near Los Angeles, where he grew up surrounded by family. He was particularly close to not only his sister Roberta, but also to his cousin Bob Kushner, whom he considered a brother. After graduating from UCLA, he went on to a successful career in mechanical engineering with expertise in special machine and tool design. He enjoyed his twenties living, working and drinking all over the beaches and mountains of Southern California and beginning his lifelong passion for road trips in legendary camping journeys through California and Mexico. He met his future wife, Babette Behrens in LA, where they were married. They lived briefly in Salt Lake City, Utah before moving back to Southern California to have their first child, Rose. While Rose was still a baby, they moved near Estacada, Oregon for a job at Boeing, and within their first several years in Oregon they had sons David and Steven. Marty gravitated toward independence and although he liked his work, he absolutely loved quitting his job. Between stints at Boeing and other companies, much of his career was spent joyfully self-employed, drafting from his home office. He designed complex machinery by hand until the mid-90s, when he traded the drafting board for a PC and learned Computer-aided Design (CAD). He spoke proudly of the role engineers have in "building the world as we know it," and evidence of his ingenuity could be found in NASA's space shuttle, Hyster forklifts, Leatherman multi-tools, Hewlett Packard printers, packing peanuts and airplane factories and facilities all over the world. He unsuccessfully retired from Boeing several times, finding himself repeatedly coaxed back for projects and problems he was uniquely qualified to work on. He finished his career there as a facilities engineer, traveling to design new factories from Portland to Italy and Russia. He also taught drafting at Clackamas Community College where his youngest son, Steven, currently teaches; his contributions there included the creation of a course in tool design. Marty was known for cross-country driving trips to visit family, friends and his favorite spots for corn-meal pancakes. He had the heart of a prankster and thrived on the excitement of showing up at a loved one's door unannounced, sometimes in disguise. He was known for being able to fix nearly anything, building train sets and collecting military vehicles, coins and firearms, and constructing elaborate art car projects for his over ten-year streak of attending Burning Man. But most importantly, Marty loved his family, and he enjoyed nothing more than gathering a large group for a meal or train ride. Surviving are his former wife, Babette Soll; daughter Rose Jarmon and husband Garland Jarmon of Bellevue, Nebraska; son David Soll and wife Hannah Rosenzweig of Brooklyn, New York; son Steven Soll and wife Ariane Soll of Oregon City, Oregon; sister Roberta Hunt of Anaheim, California; grandchildren, Livia Soll, Maya Jarmon, Alicia Jarmon, Sylvia Jarmon, Oren Soll and Yael Soll, and many other loved ones. Marty was preceded in death by his parents, Carroll and Sylvia Soll, and by many "best friends," most notably Eight-ball, the finest German Shepherd to have ever lived. Marty was also preceded in death by Howard Goldberg, his daughter-in-law's father, by less than a week; Marty and Howard had become great friends as they helped each other through difficult health challenges.
A graveside service will be held Friday, September 29, 2023, 12:00 noon, at Ahavai Sholom Cemetery,
9323 SW First Ave, Portland, OR 97219, under the direction of Holman's Funeral and Cremation Service,
Portland.
Memorial contributions may be made in Marty's honor to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. Homepage | Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (crohnscolitisfoundation.org)