John Martin

JOHN "JACK" MARTIN

Lisbon

John "Jack" Martin passed from his earthly home to heaven on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at Prairie Hills of Tipton, where he had lived

for two months under

Hospice of Mercy care.

Visitation: 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, at Stewart Baxter Funeral and Memorial Services, Mount Vernon. Funeral services: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Community Bible Church, 940 W. Mount

Vernon Rd., Mount Vernon, with Pastor Todd Roughton officiating. Burial: Lisbon Cemetery, Lisbon. Following burial, please join the family at Gwen's Restaurant for lunch and fellowship.

John was born in Waubeek, Iowa, on Feb. 25, 1932, the son of Marlow Julius Martin and J. Willa Irish Martin.

On April 23, 1955, John was united in marriage to Mary Ann Rhoads at Federated Church in Lisbon. As a youngster, John lived in Riverside, Calif., then moved to McGregor, Minn., as a teenager. He went to Aitkin County Schools in a one-room school and worked with his dad in a logging business.

John is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary; children, Cynthia Mach (Ron) of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Scott of Indianapolis, Ind., and Jon (Jill) of Blaine, Minn.; grandchildren, Shelby Holmertz (Jason) of Rockford, Ill., Taylor Mach (Mandy) of St. Paul, Minn., Derek Martin (Katie) of Blaine, Minn., Dani Heaton of Coralville, Brennan Mach of Overland Park, Kan., and Trisha Martin of North Liberty; great-grandchildren, Linnea Holmertz of Rockford, Ill., and Hendrix Mach of St. Paul, Minn.; and siblings, Irene Anderson, Nora Demenge and Gladys Martin, all of Portland, Ore.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, William; sister, Joyce Stover; and great-granddaughter, Ellie Holmertz.

Jack grew up in northern Minnesota helping in the family logging business. He had many good and bad experiences. A few that he enjoyed telling about follow. Once he went ice skating and left his new boots by the fire. When came back his boots had burned. He had to walk the two miles home on his skates. At age 12, he accidentally shot the family cow. She had lost her bell and he thought it was a bear. At age 14, he and his brother shot a bear, set it up in a rumble seat and drove it though town.

Jack had a gift of gab and loved to visit with people whether he knew them or not. His home shop was always open and he loved it when people stopped by to talk or needed some welding done, or tractor or skid loader work. He was never too busy to help them out.

Jack worked at FMC in Cedar Rapids for 20 years as a welder. He also taught a welding class at Lisbon school. He had a landscaping business on the side. He built his own home, remodeled it and added an addition. He was a man who made his living using his hands at work and at home. In later years, he added concrete lifting to his resume, going all over eastern and southern Iowa pumping up concrete.

Jack was a collector extraordinaire. He loved to go to pawn shops looking for tools even though he already had hundreds of them. He did the crossword and sudoku puzzles every morning in the paper. Jack loved fishing and hunting and would take the boys along. When duck hunting, his son, Jon, could do an amazing duck call helping lure in the ducks.

Jack loved Lisbon wrestling and watching his children and grandchildren participate in their sports in high school and college. A highlight was going to Columbus, Ind., to attend wrestling meets, where son, Scott, was a wrestling coach.

Memorials may be directed to Hospice of Mercy, c/o Mercy Foundation, 701 10th St. SE, Cedar Rapids IA 52403, or Lisbon Wrestling, 235 W. School St., Lisbon IA 52253.

Please share your memories and support with Jack's family on his tribute wall at www.stewartbaxter.com under obituaries.