Martin Frederick Fields, Sr.
Published February 15, 2006
Martin Frederick “Marty” Fields, Sr., 68, of Bainbridge Island, died Feb. 15 surrounded by his family after a fight with cancer.
He was born born Aug. 9, 1937, in Stockton, Calif., to Joseph and Mildred (Ferrall) Fields. He was raised in a large family with six brothers and one sister.
He served four years in the Navy as an engineman third class and four years in the Naval Reserve. He served aboard the USS Grapple and the USS Karin before receiving an honorable discharge in 1962.
He married Mary Ritter in 1959 and later moved to Oregon.
They had five children: Martin F. (Beverly) Fields, Jr. of Washington, D.C., Rita (Ed) Holmes of Albany, Ore., Rhonda (Ralph) Underwood of Albany, Ore., Richard (Beverly) Fields of South Carolina, and Pamela (James) Israel of Vancouver, Wash.
He worked as a truck driver for years and owned and operated his own trucking company for several of those years.
He was preceded in death by his wife Mary, his parents, four brothers and his sister.
In 1986 he moved to Bainbridge Island, where he met Anna Tripp. They were married in 1990, and he added two stepchildren to his growing family, Sandra Morrell (Pete) of Portland, Ore., and David Tripp (Julie Lohrer) of Bainbridge Island.
During this time he worked for the Country Club of Seattle on Bainbridge Island. He was a member of the American Legion Post 172. He enjoyed family and friends, fishing, the Seattle Mariners and Seahawks, cooking and playing guitar and organ.
After his retirement he discovered a love for traveling and he and Anna made several trips to Germany to visit her family near Munich. He also went snorkeling in Bermuda.
He was a surrogate father and grandfather to many children. Together, he and Anna have 22 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
He is also survived by one brother, Dennis Fields of Washington.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at the American Legion Hall Post 172 on Bucklin Hill Road. Donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101.