Thomas H. "Tom" Martin

Thomas H. Martin “Tom,” 76, passed away peacefully in Wichita, KS on February 9, 2023, at 3:30 am from a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Tom was born on April 26, 1946 in Englewood, California to parents Peter W. Martin (deceased) and Evelyn Martin (Welsh) (deceased). Tom graduated from Saint Joseph Academy, Brownsville, TX, in 1964 and within a few months enlisted in the United States Airforce, and by 1966 he was stationed at Danang AFB in Vietnam, where he spent a year in the Vietnam War and continued to be of service to his country for 22 years before retiring in November 1987. After taking a month off for vacation he began working for Boeing as a manufacturing planner as well as in the IT department. Tom received many awards and medals from the USAF as well as from Boeing for outstanding quality of work. The layoffs in 2006 took Tom to Seattle to continue his last few years with Boeing until he officially retired in 2011 but continued to do 2 more years of being a contract engineer for Boeing in Mesa, AZ before he finally decided to begin his journey of retirement. Tom had many hobbies he was passionate about including woodworking, rock hunting (made and polished beautiful stone works), hunting, fishing, camping, boating, racquetball, cooking, and BBQ on his Big Green Egg smoker. He also spent several years square dancing, round dancing, and attended festivals in Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. He loved to travel and his best trip was to London, England to visit his brother Jim. Tom was a devout Catholic and served as an usher and altar server at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Avondale, AZ. He attended daily Mass with his wife after retiring from Boeing in 2011.Tom is survived by his wife, Jeanette Martin (Ribordy); son, Brian Martin (Melissa) of Wichita, KS (grandchildren Lawrence Martin, Grace Martin, step grandchildren Nathaniel McLaughlin, and Thomas Fung); son, Patrick Martin (Vanessa) of Kansas City, MO (grandchild Carter Martin); step-children, Deborah Mahon (Steve), Bonnie Rogers (John), Jeff Ribordy (Robin), Terrence Ribordy (Chris), and Chad Ribordy (Angel); 2 step-grandchildren, 16 step-great-grandchildren, and 1 step-great-great-grandchild. Also survived by siblings, Bill Martin (Nancy) of Buffalo, NY (niece Deborah, nephews Jonathan, Timothy, and Christopher), Mike Martin of The Woodlands, TX (nieces Johanna and Jessica), Jim Martin (Carol) of Nice, France, Larry Martin (Monica)of The Woodlands, TX (nieces Sarah and Maggie), Rosemary Saunders (Kip) of The Woodlands, TX (nephew Jason Saunders, niece Erika Owens (Hyle), Rick Martin (Shirley) of Lancaster, TX, Dave Martin of Jacksonville, FL (Pattie) (niece Kristen, nephew Anthony). Preceded in death by his father, Peter W. Martin (1999); mother, Evelyn Martin (Welsh) (2007); brother, Paul Martin (2022); sister-in-law, Marsha Martin (2018).Rosary will be at 7:00 pm, Friday, February 24, 2023; Funeral Mass at 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25, 2023, both at Church of the Magdalen, Wichita, KS. Final interment will be at Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum with full military honors and 21-gun salute.Services in care of Downing & Lahey East Mortuary.

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