Paul Junior Martin, 76

Funeral services for Paul Junior Martin, 76, of West Plains, were held Jan. 11, 2020, at Robertson-Drago Funeral Home. Mr. Martin died Jan. 7 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield.

He was born April 27, 1943, in Bakersfield, the only child of Vernon David and Elsie Wade Martin Price. He was orphaned at a young age and raised by his maternal grandparents, Paul Floyd and Ellen Joice Wade. He attended Bakersfield High School, graduating in 1961. 

On Nov. 25, 1964, in Kansas City, he married Nancy Wattenbarger; together, they had two sons. On May 3, 1988, in Salem, Arkansas, he married Mary Sanders, who died April 26, 1997. On May 16, 1998 in West Plains, he married Wanda Romans Falwell.

While in Kansas City, he was employed at Hallmark Cards and General Motors. After returning to Bakersfield in summer 1975, he was elected to one term as a member of the city council, during which time the city’s water system was installed and put into use.

He was employed at Baxter Lab in Mountain Home, Arkansas, for a time and later he was employed at DRS in West Plains, where he retired on April 30, 2013, after 25 years as an assemblyman.

Mr. Martin accepted the Lord as his personal Savior on Dec. 4, 1994, and was a member of His Place House of Worship in West Plains, where he had also conducted an outreach devotional ministry at Turning Leaf Rehab and Counseling Center for several years.

He is survived by two sons, David Martin and wife Cindy of West Plains and Jeff Martin of Mountain View; special step-daughter Autumn Falwell Alexander and wife Lauren of Higginsville; special step-grandson Cash Barr of Higginsville; step-daughter Stacey Tanner and husband Rich; step-grandchildren Richelle, Kira, Xandra and Connor Tanner, all of Abilene, Texas; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents; his grandparents, Paul and Ellen Wade and William and Fannie Martin Dodson; his stepfather Matt Price Jr.; three uncles, Ralph Wade, Chester Cotter and Eric Brooks; and two aunts, Lola Wade Cotter and Mary Wade Brooks.

Burial was in the Bakersfield Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Turning Leaf Outreach Center and may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences may be expressed at RobertsonDrago.com.

Robertson-Drago Funeral Home, West Plains, directors.  

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423