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Burial:
New Union Cemetery in Lincoln, Illinois, on Friday,
June 23, 2023, at 2:00 p.m.
Funeral home: Holland Barry & Bennett Funeral
Home
Obituary
Howard Marion Martinie departed
this life at age 97 on June 18, 2023, after a long
decline.
He was born on December 21, 1925, in Staunton, to
Paul and Cora (Awe) Martinie. His father died when
he was three, and he and his beloved older brother
Ralph were raised in Lincoln through the Great
Depression by his mother and a loving extended
family. After high school, having only left Logan
County a few times, he served on the European front
line in WWII from 1944-45 in the First Infantry
Division, earning a Bronze Star. Returning home, he
attended Lincoln College, then Bradley University on
the GI Bill, earning a mechanical engineering
degree. He designed bearing assemblies and related
products for employers including Link-Belt, Hoover
Ball & Bearing, Sundstrand, SKF, Dodge
Manufacturing, Reliance Electric, and Rockwell
Automation. By the time he retired, well into his
80s, he had acquired 23 patents and was probably the
world’s most experienced bearing engineer.
Howard married Lorraine Bree on November 23, 1950.
Together they raised three children and lived in
Lincoln; Brownsburg, Indiana; Ypsilanti, Michigan;
Rockford, Illinois; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania;
Mishawaka, Indiana, Simpsonville and Greenville,
South Carolina; and Lake Barrington, Illinois,
always joining a local Lutheran church where he
often served in leadership roles. They celebrated
their 70th anniversary shortly before Lorraine died
on December 17, 2020.
He said if he hadn't gone to college, he would have
been a carpenter. An incredibly handy man, he built
furniture, maintained and painted his houses, and
engaged in a wide variety of projects over the
years, including building a two car garage. Once he
laid a flower on a piece of slate and thought it
looked nice. That led to a decades-long hobby of
making slate plaques under the name of House of
Martinie, which were sold at craft fairs. He
supported Lorraine's artistry by making frames for
her paintings and attending art shows. He was an
avid reader and his favorite topic was American
history, especially the Civil War and WWII.
He closely followed business and
politics, reading a daily newspaper and Business
Week magazine most of his adult life. Every family
vacation included trips to art museums, historic
houses, and if possible, Civil War battlefields.
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He and Lorraine traveled extensively, visiting Europe several
times, and locations all over the U.S. Favorite destinations included Provence
and Kauai. A highlight of his retirement was the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series
win.
The most important thing to him was his family. He was a loving and supportive
husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather and was always interested in
what everyone was up to, helping whenever he could, while usually refraining
from giving unsolicited advice. He and Lorraine hosted annual family gatherings
on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, took annual "sibling" vacations with
Lorraine's brother Don and sister Twila and their spouses Donna and Mike, and
often returned to Lincoln to visit family. He was fun to be with and a nice,
funny, funny man known for his off-key renditions of “Happy Birthday” when he
called to congratulate family members.
He was preceded in death by wife Lorraine Martinie, parents Paul and Cora
Martinie, brother and sister-in-law Ralph and Betty Martinie, brother-in-law
Donald Bree, and sister-in-law Barbara Bree. He is survived by children Steve
(Joan) Martinie of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Roger (Gloria) Martinie of
Cochranville, Pennsylvania, and Linda (James) Hoffmann of Elgin, Illinois;
grandchildren (who knew him as “Grandpa Howie”) Allison, Amelia, Michelle, and
Rebecca (Brad Endres) Martinie; Joshua, Sara, and Spencer (Kathleen) Hoffmann,
and Melissa (Joe) Simon; step-grandchildren Liz Seabolt and Simon Yu;
great-grandchildren Aiden Endres, Isaac and Maxine Hoffmann, Emma Simon, and one
on the way; sisters-in law Donna Bree and Twila (Michael) Sullivan; nieces Jane
(Darwin) Ingram, Lisa (Chris) Olson, Molly Sullivan, and Laura (Todd) Wooten;
and nephews Brian (Carrie) Bree and Paul (Pam) Martinie.
Burial will be at New Union Cemetery in Lincoln, Illinois, on Friday, June 23,
2023, at 2:00 pm with Holland, Barry & Bennett Funeral Home assisting the
family. Memorials to St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Greenville, South
Carolina, or to Bradley University are suggested.
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