Current conditions unavailable
Some knew him as a newspaper reporter and editor.
Others as a postal carrier.
Still others connected with him over their mutual admiration for Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan.
Others attended church with him.
Whatever their connection, those who loved Johnnie “John” Franklin Martin as a brother, husband, father, grandfather and friend gathered at the Fort Borst Park kitchen on Saturday to honor a life well lived by a man who most wanted to be remembered as a child of God, a Christian, a man who loved the Lord.
Although my husband worked with John at The Daily Chronicle in the 1970s, I never met him until joining a group in early 2005 intent on honoring Rosie the Riveters and the Guys who worked on the home front in defense industries during World War II.
Born in Seattle to Billie Howard and Moween Arlee (McCrady) Martin, Johnnie — his legal name — grew up primarily in Centralia with four brothers and two sisters. From 1951 to 1959, he attended St. Mary’s School in Centralia and wrote his recollections of those years, expanding it to include the school’s history.
Despite his Catholic education, Johnnie wasn’t always an angel, a fact his younger brother Sam attested to at the memorial service. While acknowledging his brother as “a wonderful man” who “cared for everybody,” he recalled how fiercely his older brother protected his Tarzan collection of comic books from younger siblings’ prying eyes.
And as a toddler, Sam recalled that he and his sister Peggy often landed in a turkey roasting pan, seasoned with salt and pepper, and threatened with baking in the oven by Johnnie and their brother Mike.
“Somehow we never did make it to the oven,” he said. “They sure tried that a lot.”
I grew up in a family of six, and I could visualize similar endeavors in our household. It was fun to hear the story, especially as I hadn’t seen Sam Martin in four decades, not since he served on the Centralia City Council while I was a cub reporter.
After graduating from high school and Centralia College, Johnnie joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served four years, including time in Vietnam, and wrote for the Marines’ Leatherneck Magazine.
“Most of us didn’t know that his legal first name was Johnnie, and the story behind that, why we call him John,” emcee Herb Potter said. “As we were told, when he went into the Marine Corps, they thought the name Johnnie was not a distinguished enough name, so they put him down as John Franklin Martin. I told Peggy [John’s wife] it seems like Johnnie’s a good name even for a Marine. But what did I know? I was in the Air Force.”
After his military service, John worked as a reporter and later editor of The Daily Chronicle and later as editor of Logger’s World. He also operated Oregonian and USA Today dealerships for several years before accepting a job as a rural mail carrier in Centralia, a job he held for 26 years.
An insert to the funeral program shared John’s testimony, how he grew up believing in God but drifted away from the church, later interviewing Christians whose faith shone through in their lives. He and his wife, Peggy, who also believed in God, attended Centralia Bible Chapel.
While Peggy was hospitalized for back problems, a chaplain gave them a booklet by H.A. Ironside called “Full Assurance” After reading it, John said, they recommitted their lives to God and served in the church for 40 years. He was an elder, shared messages from the pulpit, taught Sunday school, helped with Vacation Bible School, and assisted with Bible study courses taught to inmates in jails and prisons. He played guitar in the chapel and wrote poetry praising God.
He loved Romans 5:8 in the Bible, which says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
At John’s service on Saturday, Michelle Cowan, whose family fellowshipped with John and Peggy Martin and their children at Centralia Bible Chapel for four decades, spoke of John’s dedication as the youth group leader when he took teenagers Christmas shopping and ice skating in Portland. She knew him as a poet, a song leader, a musician, and a friend. She said her children each recalled John as “non-judgmental.”
I sat at a table with a couple from Kent, Wash., who drove down to pay their respects to John and his life. They knew him from attending Edgar Rice Burroughs events together. So did a man who flew up from Sacramento for the funeral.
When we honored the Rosies, John helped tremendously with editing the “Life on the Home Front” book sharing their stories. He even wrote the poem at the front of the book honoring their legacy.
The more I’ve dug into newspaper archives to write local history columns for The Chronicle, the more I’ve stumbled upon terrific history preserved by John, including stories about the ghost towns of Mendota near Centralia and Tono near Bucoda.
John worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create special cancellations, not only for the Rosies but to honor Centralia founder George Washington, early pioneer Matilda Koontz Jackson, and Centralia Founders Day, among other special historical occasions.
At local history and book-signing events, John was always among the first to show up.
He worked closely with my friend Sandra Crowell to check facts and edit the manuscript before publication of her nonfiction history book, The Land Called Lewis.
After spending five years compiling the history of Matilda Koontz Jackson, I wrote a draft of the nonfiction book, Washington Territory’s Grand Lady, and solicited input from five local historians — Vic Kucera, Edna Fund, Brian Mittge, Sandy and John. I’m grateful to each of them for their time reviewing the draft and offering suggestions to make it better.
In 2019, John and I both attended meetings of an informal Armistice Day Committee as volunteers sought to commemorate the tragic events that unfolded on Centralia streets on Nov. 11, 1919, during and after the first Armistice Day parade.
When I wrote a novel about the Centralia Tragedy, “Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence,” I asked John again to review the draft before publication. He was always generous with sharing his time and talents, and I truly valued his insights and suggestions.
“I learned a lot from him,” my husband said. “I was blessed to have known him.”
I was too.
John died at home on Aug. 12, 2026, at 81. He and his wife of 58 years, Peggy, had three children: Dan of Centralia; Rose Evans of Chehalis; and Kathy, who preceded him in death, as did two of his brothers, Michael and Bill. He also is survived by brothers George of Okanagan, Wash., and Sam of Conconully, Wash., and sisters Patty Luce of Rochester and Peggy Hawes of Tenino in addition to two granddaughters and two grandsons.
In his opening prayer, Ron Moeller of Centralia Bible Chapel noted sadness over the loss of John, who had a love for meeting with people regarding Tarzan, actor Johnny Weissmuller, and the Lone Ranger, but described his good friend as looking forward to what comes next.
“I visited him probably a few days before he passed away, and he was just so anxious to go to heaven to be with his Lord,” Moeller said. “So that’s why this is kind of a time of celebration to remember John, because he is where he wanted to be.”
•••
Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
