Richard “Dick” LeRoy Martin, 88, long time resident of Mercer Island, Washington passed away on Thursday, June 22, 2017 at Covenant Shores Retirement Community. Dick was born March 9, 1929 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to F. LeRoy and Edythe Martin. As a junior in high school, his family moved to Roanoke, Virginia where he met and fell in love with his next door neighbor, Betty Joe Decker. They were married June 12, 1951, had four children, and celebrated fifty years of marriage until Betty’s passing in 2001.

Dick attended Virginia Tech and was in the Corps of Cadets, graduating on June 10, 1951 with a degree in mechanical engineering. His family and friends will recall he proudly wore his VT graduation ring the remainder of his life.

His engineering career was spent in the aviation industry, working in the gas turbine sector and later in commercial aircraft propulsion industry. In the early years following graduation, Dick worked for Westinghouse Aviation outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and AVCO Lycoming in Shelton, Connecticut. With a desire to experience the Pacific Northwest, Dick convinced Betty that “going west” would be the adventure of a lifetime, so in 1965, Dick eagerly accepted a position with Boeing. With a pioneering spirit, Dick and Betty loaded their children into a station wagon and drove across the country to their new home. Once in Seattle, Dick and Betty settled on Mercer Island and raised their family. He retired from Boeing in 1995 after thirty years of service.

As an Eagle Scout, Dick developed a love of community service and offered his time and talents to a number of organizations throughout his lifetime. Dick was a Boy Scout leader, an Alderman in Shelton, Connecticut, the director of the Mercer Island High School Ski School, a member of both the Mercer Island Rotary Club and Mercer Island Congregational Church, and volunteered at the First Harvest Food Bank.

Anyone who knew Dick knew about his love of football, and he was a long-time season ticket holder of both the Seahawks and Huskies. Dick and Betty would plan their Fall season around both teams’ schedules; rain or shine, win or lose, Dick attended every game and faithfully supported his teams!

Dick remarried Priscilla McCartney in 2005. Dick and Priscilla spent ten happy years together, traveling to visit friends and family until her passing in December 2015.

Dick is survived by his children Rick (Colleen) Martin, Tom (Sally) Martin, Karen (Peter) Colen, David (Lisa) Martin, eight grandchildren, Dan, John, Mathew, Alyssa, Stuart, Alex Martin, Sam and Diana Colen and three great-grandchildren. He will be remembered as a gentle soul who loved his family, friends, community, and sports teams. Go Hawks and Dawgs! He will be missed.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Covenant Shores Fellowship Hall on Saturday, August 19, 2017 at 10:00 am with a reception following. All are welcomed.