Earl A. Martin

Earl A. Martin, 87, passed away Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, at his home in Missoula of natural causes. He was born Aug. 29, 1926, in Powell, Wyo., to Earl and Mildred Martin. He grew up with his younger brother Paul on the Rimrock Dude Ranch in Wapiti, Wyo. During school years, he attended a one-room schoolhouse. He loved to ride horses with the "dudes" and pass his knowledge on to them at a young age.

Earl has always been very patriotic and loved his country. During high school, he joined the U.S. Navy and served his country in World War II from 1944-1946. After returning, he finished high school in Stevensville. During the fall of 2013, Earl was given the chance to travel to Washington, D.C., with the WWII Honor Guard.

One of Earl's favorite sayings was, "A man needs three things in his life: a good horse, a good dog and a good wife."

In 1950, he married Alice Perry and they moved to Great Falls, where Earl began a career of working on ranches around western Montana. They raised their family in the Drummond area, where they lived for 50-plus years.

He spent his years working on ranches, logging, road construction and finally owning his own business, Tri-county Construction in Drummond. After retirement, he served as a Granite County commissioner. He taught his family the value of hard work and honesty. Whatever he did, he did with passion!

Earl had many passions, including his family and grandkids (even an occasional trip to ski with them), ranch work, horses, team roping, photography, his dogs, braiding, leather work, cowboy poetry, Dutch oven cooking and gardening.

During his life, Earl was a part of many organizations. He was involved in Masons, York Rite, Drummond Fire Department, Eastern Star, 4-H leader, American Legion and Kiwanis. He also served on many boards.

He read and studied the Bible daily; he loved God and it was very evident in how he lived his life. He taught his family to always give their all in the way they lived life, respect and love each other.

Earl was preceded in death by his parents Earl and Mildred Martin, brother Paul Martin, daughter Lynne Rigby and granddaughter Samantha Martin. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Alice of Missoula; children Becky (Keith) Kolbeck and Jay Martin of Drummond, Judy (Butch) Friede of Hall, Lori (Kim) Sayler of Lolo and Doug Martin of Kalispell; 14 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Hospice of Missoula or a charity of their choice.

Cremation has taken place at Cremation & Burial Society of the Rockies. A celebration of his life will be at Grizzly Peak Retirement Community, 3600 American Way, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. Burial will follow at a later date at Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery.
Read Earl Martin's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.