A Memorial Mass for William P. "Bill" Martin, 84, of Indianola, who passed away Thursday, December 28, 2023, will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Indianola.  Inurnment of cremains will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, Adel, Iowa

William P. "Bill" Martin was the first-born child of Vi and Dick Martin in Plover, IA on October 3, 1939. He was later joined by sisters Mary and Nancy. Following schooling, Bill chose to follow in his father's footsteps and became a sailor in the U.S. Navy. One particular memory he shared with others about his time in the Navy was that he got a kick out of smoking his cigar while watching other sailors as they hurled over the edge of the ship from motion sickness. It was during his time with the Navy that he learned about meteorology and following his service he accepted a position with the National Weather Service.

Bill met the love of his life, Betty Ahlers, in 1963 and they were married in 1964. They lived in Moline, Illinois, Heron, South Dakota, and North Platte, Nebraska before settling in Indianola, IA.

Bill was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church as well as the Knights of Columbus.

It was in Indianola that Bill and Betty created many dear, lifelong friendships. Camping with these friends was something they both greatly enjoyed, whether it was with all the families or just the adults in their later years spending winter months in Mission, Texas.

Bill's other interests included fishing, golf and woodworking. His woodworking projects ranged from large furniture items to small craft items he and Betty sold at craft shows for several years. His woodworking skills transferred to his hobby of model trains in which he created a large set-up, twice. Bill could spend hours tinkering with (and plenty of money on) the trains. He took pride in sharing his progress on his VERY detailed train displays.

A favorite activity for Bill was playing Rummy when there were several visitors to the home. The other players could easily be tipped off to his good hand when he announced, "Oh Boy!" as he drew a wild card! It was a phrase that quickly caught on to all those who played along with him.

Bill was a big supporter of his children and grandchildren. He often attended sporting events and other activities they were involved in. He was also quick to help out when one of the kids called, exclaiming "Dad, I need help! Bring tools!" He sometimes lamented on why his daughters didn't marry someone handy.

Bill had a fondness of the ocean and indulging in plenty of shrimp and scallops. His eyes would light up at the mention and sight of these.

Bill and Betty were blessed (or cursed; depending on who you ask) with six children; Bettina Hogan, Brenda Martin McCoy, Belinda Martin, Bill (Regina) Martin, Barb (Dan) Thomas and Brandon (Abby) Martin; grandchildren, Brandi Hogan, Bethany Hogan, Brooke Jones, Blayne Hogan, JoAnna Spence, Tyler Spence, Allison Freitag, William Aubert, Robert Aubert, Sophia Martin, Emily Thomas and Jacob Thomas; great-grandchildren, Avery, Javier, Jeremiah, Julia, Olivia, Quinton, Clayton, Oliver, Kinze, Holden and Sawyer and one on the way. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles (Dick) and Violet (Hanish) Martin and son-in-law Brian Hogan.

*Written by his loving, unsupervised adult children.

Memorials may be given in memory of Bill to Heal House in Indianola.