Larry S. Martin, age 73, of Sac City, Iowa, passed away Thursday, February 14, 2008, at Loring Hospital in Sac City.

Memorial services will be held on Monday, February 18th, at 2:00 P.M., at the First Presbyterian Church in Sac City. Visitation is from 4:00-6:00 p.m., Sunday, at the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home in Sac City.

Larry was born on January 30, 1935, in Fort Dodge, Iowa the son of Beryl and Beulah (Van Hauen) Martin. He was baptized in 1935 at the Methodist Church in Otho, IA, and confirmed his faith in 1951 at Plover Methodist Church. His elementary education was at Gillett Grove and high school at Plover High School graduating in 1953. He earned his B.A. at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake in 1960 and M.S. at the University of Wisconsin, at Superior, Wisconsin in 1969. He did additional graduate work at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado.

He was inducted into the U. S. Army in January of 1954 serving at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was honorably discharged in 1956. After completing his service, Larry was united in marriage to Gwendolyn Marie Lehnus at Rolfe, Iowa, on August 11, 1957. This union was blessed with three children: Bradley, Brian, and Barbara.

Larry taught at Sac Community High School for 38 years as a business instructor, accounting teacher. A firm believer in vocational education, he also served as the Distributive Education and Multi-Occupations Coordinator for 25 of those years and had over 300 students complete these programs.

His passion for teaching kept him in touch with former students both within this community and throughout the country. He thoroughly enjoyed hearing about their activities since graduation and was equally interested in their continued success in life.

He was elected to serve as secretary and later president of IDETA and was a member of AEA 5 Vocational Advisory Planning Council for several years. In addition to teaching high school, Larry also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Superior for five summers and for Iowa Central Community College for 15 years. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Sac City where he served as trustee.

He was very family oriented and was extremely proud of his children, their accomplishments, and his six grandchildren and enjoyed the opportunity to travel to visit them.

He loved the outdoor activities, especially hunting, fishing, yard work (he had a passion for keeping the weeds running scared) camping, and especially traveling. His adventurous spirit led to several family jeep trips in the mountains of Colorado. He had several collections and enjoyed organizing and caring for them. His interest in marketing and advertising led him to observe and note these things in retail stores and malls. For many years Larry was a fan of Oakland/Los Angeles Raider football, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the UNI Panthers.

Survivors include his wife Gwendolyn of Sac City; two sons: Bradley D. Martin and wife Renee of Allenspark, CO, and Brian D. Martin and wife Kellie of Ft. Knox, KY; daughter Barbara D. Bextine and husband Blake of Tyler, TX; six grandchildren: Kaitlyn and Andrew Martin; Lily and Finnian Martin; and Brittany and Bailey Bextine; his mother Beulah Martin of Yuma, AZ; brother Ronald Martin of Yuma, AZ; and close family friend Richard Leap also of Yuma, AZ.

His father Beryl Martin preceded Larry in death.