Jack Allen Martin was born April 14, 1924. Jack was the second child born to Gladys Estella “Stella” (Payne) and Henry “Hank” Lee Martin on the family farm two miles west of Watson, Missouri near the old river town of Sonora, where his brother, Bud, currently resides. The farm had belonged to his great-grandparents, Hiram and Elizabeth Payne and his grandparents, Jesse Jackson and Sarah Alice (Adams) Payne. Sunny Grove Country School was located across the road from his house. Since most of the teachers usually boarded at the Payne-Martin home, he was allowed to start school at an age younger than most students. He later attended classes in Watson in the old Catholic Church, and in the two-story brick Watson High School, graduating in 1941. He often drove his father’s 1929 Whippet truck to school. Jack’s son, Reed, still has the truck. Later, Jack purchased a 1925 Model T Coupe for $25. He had a reputation for being a fast driver. Some folks nicknamed him Barney Oldfield-after the racing legend of the time.

After high school, Jack learned to weld at Frye Aircraft in Omaha. He and his friend, Carl Frede, drove his 1938 Chrysler Coupe to Baltimore, Maryland, to work at the Martin Bomber Plant spot-welding airplane cowlings. When the Martin Bomber plant opened in Omaha, the men transferred back to work on the flight lines. Jack was inducted into the Army Air Force on the day before his 19th birthday in 1943. He underwent 17 weeks of Liberator Mechanics training at several bases across the United States before being sent overseas. He was mainly stationed in Italy and northern Africa. He participated in 33 bombing missions, flying in B-24 Liberators over Germany. He was a waist gunner and flight engineer with the 827th Squadron, 484th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force. He was awarded several medals and ribbons for his service to his country. He had begun training on B-29’s in the states when the war ended. While still in the service, Jack married Vyvyan L. Madron, his high school sweetheart, on June 12, 1945, in Hiawatha, Kansas, at a Presbyterian Church. After being honorably discharged as a T SGT, Jack began his farming career. He and Vyvyan lived two miles east of Watson, where they raised Linda, Reed and JaNay.

During the 1950s, Jack and Bud had a custom corn shelling operation that included several grain trucks and a crew of men to scoop the ear corn. Besides his own land, he farmed land belonging to Jack and Elsie Morgan and Olin and Mildred Harmes for many years. In the late 1970s, Jack and Bud joined several other area farmers in the American Agricultural Movement. In 1978, they were among the thousands of farmers who made history traveling to Washington, D.C., to gather on the mall. After Jack’s strokes and heart operations, Reed took over most of the farming operation. Jack then began collecting windmills and going to auctions where he purchased farm antiques and small tractors, such as 8N Fords, and with Reed’s help, he restored them for resale. It was just a few years ago that the driveway to Watson Fireworks was lined with his antique collection. He loved to visit with fireworks customers, and it made his day when he sold an item or two.

Jack and Vyvyan liked to vacation in the southwest in the wintertime and in the mountains in the summer. Jack was always ready to go no matter where or when. In years prior to his poor health, Jack and Vyvyan attended the Rock Port United Methodist Church. He was also a 63 year member of the Hubert Woodward American Legion Post #156 of Hamburg, Iowa. Jack entered the Good Samaritan Society in Auburn, Nebraska, in June 2009, where he passed away early Thursday morning, February 24, 2011 at the age of 86 years.

Besides his parents, Jack was preceded in death by his sister-in-law, Mary Lou Martin and brother-in-law, Willis “Kearney” Barnhart. Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Vyvyan, of the home; daughter, Linda Gaylene Fries, and her husband, Dan, of Fairfax, Missouri, son, Allen Reed Martin, and his wife, Staci, of Watson, and daughter, JaNay Meleia Oestmann, and her husband, Jim, of Auburn; his five grandchildren, Jack Fries of Wichita, Kansas, Meleia and Alexa Oestmann of Auburn, and Montana and Brock Martin of Watson. He is also survived by his older sister, Marjorie Barnhart, of Rock Port, younger brother, Harold “Bud” Martin, of Watson, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral Service: 10:00 a.m., Saturday, February 26, 2011, Minter Funeral Chapel, Rock Port.
Interment: High Creek Cemetery, Watson.
Visitation: The family will receive friends from 9:00-9:50 a.m., Saturday, February 26, 2011 prior to the services.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Atchison County Memorial Building Foundation or High Creek Cemetery.
Military rites are under the auspices of the Story-Hardin American Legion Post #164, Craig, Missouri.
Services: Minter Funeral Chapel.
Online obituaries and condolences at www.minterfuneralchapels.com.