Educator took time to know each pupil

6/2/2007

Cecil L. Martin, 61, a retired principal and administrator in the Washington Local Schools, died Wednesday in St. Anne Mercy Hospital after a heart attack.

Heart problems caused him to retire in 2002 after about 1 1/2 years as principal of McGregor Elementary School. He had previously retired in 1999 as Washington Local's curriculum director, a post he held eight years.

Mr. Martin had been a teacher in Baltimore and a teacher and administrator in Columbus by 1976, when he and his family moved north so he could become principal of Lincolnshire Elementary School in the Washington Local district.

Later he was principal of Jefferson Junior High School in the district.

"He loved children, and he was really good at what he did," said his daughter, Janette Warren, an art teacher in the district. "He was very well respected. People came to him with questions and knew they could trust his answer."

He went outside with students at recess and might even play football with them.

"He always got to know each kid, whether at Jefferson with 1,000 or McGregor with 250," his daughter said. "They knew he could take care of business if he had to."

A native of Green Camp, Ohio, he was a 1963 graduate of Richwood, Ohio, High School. Mr. Martin received bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Ohio University.

Before retirement, Mr. Martin, of West Toledo, was a woodworker and made clocks, some of which went to teachers who retired, and jewelry boxes.

In retirement, he was a devotee of eBay and collected coins, comic books, knives, and lighters.

"It was kind of a game for him, [to] make a collection of something from the past," his daughter said. "It kept his mind busy. He never could just sit back and watch TV."

Surviving are his wife, Linda Martin, whom he married July 8, 1968; daughters, Janette Warren and Jennifer Alford; mother, Ruth Martin Anderson; sister, Lois Lucas; brother, Calvin Martin, and two granddaughters.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in the Coyle Funeral Home, where the body will be after 2 p.m. tomorrow.

The family suggests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.