Roger G. Martin

Roger Gene Martin was born on June 23, 1950 in Valley City, ND the youngest of four children born to Richard R and Geneva L Martin. He passed away on June 15th as a result of Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia, an allergic reaction to blood thinners used during heart surgery. He grew up in the small town of Hastings, ND where his father worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad and his mother was a school cook. He was baptized at Spring Creek Lutheran Church in Hastings and confirmed in 1965 at the same Church. His family moved to Valley City when he was a freshman in high school. Roger graduated from Valley City Central High School where he excelled in sports. He was quarterback of the football team, point guard on the basketball team and shortstop on the baseball team. He was admired by his classmates as a friend who could be counted on and trusted. His freshmen year in college was spent at Valley City State where he met a beautiful coed by the name of Gloria Frederick. Although he certainly didn’t realize it at the time, Gloria would be by his side for the next 49 years. Married on April 11, 1970, they moved to Grand Forks, ND. Roger was a proud graduate of the John D Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota and at the time of his retirement, was Director of Marketing at Cessna Aircraft. Roger held many marketing and sales positions during his career at Cessna and was a significant contributor to the book “The Legend of Cessna” published in 1998. Roger worked at Cessna for over 36 years, retiring in 2010. Over those 36 years he made many long and lasting friendships with the great people at Cessna. Friendships that lasted the rest of his life. As a pinnacle of his education and career, he was inducted into the UND Aerospace Hall of Fame Alumni Inaugural Class in 2018. Perhaps Roger’s family life is best articulated by a text message received the day of his death from his daughter Stacy’s high school friend; “Roger Martin was what I hoped every father would be, the pinnacle of class, hard work, fun love….I could go on for hours. I know I’ve told you before, he WAS the dad I always hoped for.” Preceded in death by his parents, Roger is survived by his wife, Gloria; daughter Stacy (Shane) McGonnell; sons, Christopher Martin and Cory (Heidi) Martin; grandchildren, Molly and Max McGonnell; Marina, Geneva and Anya Martin; Brady and Bailey Martin. In addition, he is survived by his sisters, Shirley (Russell) diBartolo, Sharon (Al) Peterson, and his brother, Larry (Rita) Martin. Also surviving is his mother-in-law, Alice Frederick. Visitation will be from 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Friday June 21, 2019 at Downing & Lahey West Mortuary. Memorial Service will be at 10:00am, Saturday, June 22, 2019, at Ascension Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established with Doc’s Friends, P.O. Box 771089, Wichita, KS 67277 and Ascension Lutheran Church, 842 N. Tyler Rd. Wichita, KS 67212.