Guy William Martin

Guy William ("Bill") Martin, Jr., 76, died peacefully at home on October 19, 2022, a beautiful autumn morning, in the loving care of his wife and hospice workers, after struggling for several years with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. Bill, known as Billy to his school classmates, was born March 12, 1946, and grew up in Abbeville, South Carolina, the younger son of Guy and Emma Martin, who both worked in the local textile mill. His grade school "Mill Hill" buddies describe him as a well-mannered, low-key fellow with a good sense of humor who loved playing softball, collecting baseball cards, and wading into the country club pond after dark to steal golf balls. Bill had many friends dating from his grade school and high school days with whom he remained in contact throughout his life. After graduating from Abbeville High School in 1964, Bill went on to receive a degree in Chemistry from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. After college, he enlisted in the Navy, attended Officer's Candidate School, and then served two years in Viet Nam, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade before his honorable discharge in 1979. Bill married his first wife, Beth Lockwood, in 1968. Their son Brian was born in 1972. Bill and his wife divorced in 1976. Upon his return from Viet Nam, Bill pursued graduate research in electrochemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1977. After finishing his Ph.D. and a post-doctorate at the University of Georgia, Bill moved back to North Carolina and started working in the pharmaceutical industry for a British company called Burroughs Wellcome, with laboratories in Greenville and Durham, NC. As a manager of a lab that developed new drugs, Bill was part of a team that created medicines such as Sudafed and AZT. Bill was an avid runner and a member of two running clubs, including the Tarheel Hash House Harriers and the Carolina Godiva Track Club. It was at a meet of one of these clubs that Bill met his second wife, Dorothy. They married in 1988. In 1994 Bill and Dorothy moved to England, where Dorothy pursued a doctoral degree and Bill continued to work in pharmaceutical development. Bill and Dorothy moved back to the US in 1997, this time to Vermont. Together they bought two hundred acres in Bakersfield and built a beautiful house. Bill served on the board of Bakersfield's Brigham Free Library for several years. They enjoyed running, gardening, travelling, and birdwatching together. After moving to Vermont, Bill initially worked as a consultant, eventually taking a permanent position with Mylan Technologies in St. Albans, managing a lab that developed transdermal patches. He retired from Mylan in 2010 and continued working as a consultant until illness forced his final retirement. In 2019 Bill and Dorothy gave up the demands of country home ownership and moved to a cottage in Taylor Community in Laconia, New Hampshire, where health care was more easily accessible. He remained there until his death. Bill loved his dog Miss Nettie, reading the local newspaper, and sipping one of his wife's home-brewed beers. Some special people supported Bill later in his life: Reggie Griffin from Abbeville, who kept all of Bill's high school friends informed about his health; his friends from RockSteady Boxing at the Downtown Gym in Laconia, especially Barb; friends Paula and Ray at Taylor Community; all his ?caregivers from the Taylor Community care team and elsewhere, particularly Bettie, Cathy, and Sherri; the hospice team from Lakes Region Home Health and Hospice; friends Rick and Connie from Gilford; and most of all his son Brian and daughter-in-law Jennifer, who visited multiple times in his last few years to help care for him. The US Department of Veterans Affairs played a crucial role in keeping Bill as healthy as possible, providing all his medications, medical equipment that allowed Bill to remain at home, and financial support for hiring caregivers. Bill is predeceased by his parents Guy and Emma Martin and his brother Philip. He leaves behind his wife Dorothy; his brother's wife Gwendolyn Martin and their children and grandchildren, and his brother-in-law David Allard, his wife Judy and their two sons. Bill will be laid to rest with military honors at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Randolph Center, Vermont in a private family ceremony. The Mayhew Funeral Home of Meredith, New Hampshire is overseeing the arrangements. A celebration of Bill's life will be held at Taylor Community at a future time. For those wishing to make a charitable donation in Bill's memory, please consider Erskine College (www.erskine.edu), Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org ) or the Carter Center www.cartercenter.org

Tributes

Guy William Martin

March 12, 1946 - October 19, 2022