John Harold Martinsen

Our father, John Harold Martinsen, passed away very handsomely and peacefully at home, Taylor, Texas on Sunday, November 6, 2016. As was his usual habit before taking a trip so as not to wake everyone up, he slipped away from us just before dawn. His grandfather always told him “to be handsome in all he did” and he was that as he struggled with complications of lung cancer metastasized into brain cancer.

A (Ballard) Seattle native, he was born January 7, 1927 into a Norwegian family. His grandfather built the second house on Sunset Hill. Relatives were charter members of Crown Hill Lutheran Church. When not involved in church activities the family was engaged in fishing, canning, cooking and sailing on “The Lindy”.

Dad graduated early from Ballard High School in 1944 so as to join the U.S. Navy at the age of seventeen along with his friends. Enlisted at Bremerton, WA, he served in the Pacific war on the U.S. Libra (AKA 12). Afterwards, he used the GI Bill to graduate with a BS from Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. To enhance his education he then graduated with another BS from The School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

He served with the U.S. Foreign Service Diplomatic Corps and Central Intelligence Agency. He also worked as a stockbroker with Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. Along the way he attained the rank of 32-degree Mason of The Scottish Rite.

He is survived by two daughters Summer Ann Martinsen-Trevino and Tamar Virginia Martinsen; three grandchildren Rebecca Elizabeth Lewis, Duncan Alexander Lewis and Rachel Virginia Lewis; two great-grandchildren Molly Grace White and Cora Rae Elizabeth Lewis.

He was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Ann (Harrington) of Dubois, PA; parents Olive Elizabeth (Summer) and Martin George Martinsen both of Seattle, WA; maternal grandparents Olive Mary (Prescott) and John Artilus Summer both of MN; paternal grandparents Otilia Olsen and Oter Harold Martinsen both originally of Farsund, Norway.

A private committal and burial of cremains at Crown Hill Cemetery will be followed by inclusion in the regular Sunday prayer service at Ballard First Lutheran Church.