Frederick J Martin Jr.

He lived a life worthy of legend–a son, brother, husband, father, grand and great grandfather, and loyal friend, but also a man of faith, great legal intellect, owner of champion thoroughbreds, avid reader, passionate traveler, sports enthusiast, foodie, lover of all-things-Irish, and talented artist. A son of Yonkers, New York, Fred attended Manhattan Prep ‘50, College of the Holy Cross ‘54, and Columbia Law School ‘57, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. In 1957, Fred joined Bleakley Platt, where he remained for 63 years until his retirement in 2019. As a young lawyer, Fred served as a Westchester County Supervisor and Yonkers City Councilman. In 1966, Fred was the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives 20th Congressional District, but lost to the incumbent, Richard Ottinger, who, on his retirement in 1985, told the New York Times Fred was his toughest opponent. Fortunately, the practice of law would serve as a more-than-adequate consolation prize, as Fred, Bleakley Platt’s premier litigator for much of his 63 years at the firm, helped build it into the top firm between Manhattan and Albany, winning precedent-setting and landmark cases in New York’s highest courts. Fred was the father to eleven children, ten of whom with his first love and wife, Eileen Cox Martin, who passed too soon in 1981. Seven of their children were Division I athletes, and Fred funded all of their educations–one doctor, one nurse, two teachers, three businesswomen, and four lawyers. Fred had thirty grandchildren and three great grandchildren, all of whom spent summers with him at Huletts and loved him almost as much as he adored them. Fred was a judicious man of Catholic faith and core principles whose intellect and wit cut through the complicated. He had many passions: family, Lake George, Ireland and the Hill of Slane, law, reading, drawing and painting, military strategy, world travel, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets, the Steelers, and owning and handicapping thoroughbred horses. For a Yonkers kid, Fred did remarkably well in the “Sport of Kings,” co-owning such horses as Irish-bred Theatrical, the 1987 Breeders Cup and Eclipse Turf Award Winner, Colonial Affair, the 1993 Belmont Stakes and 1994 Whitney Stakes and Jockey Gold Cup Winner, and Unified, a 2016-17 multiple graded stakes winner. Fred’s love of Saratoga coincided with his and Eileen’s love for Lake George. This past August, surrounded by friends and family, Fred celebrated his 90th birthday–a milestone also reached by his parents, Fred J. Martin, Sr., and Margaret Curran Martin. Along with his father, Fred was a founding member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Westchester County, for which he served as President from 1988-89, and was its last surviving founding member. Fred was predeceased by his first love and wife of twenty-four years, Eileen Cox Martin, who passed in 1981; his wife and best friend for twenty-six years, Margaret Fitzpatrick, who passed in 2018; his youngest brother, Joseph F. Martin; and his second eldest son, Dr. Thomas Patrick Martin, whose wife Lynn remains a loving part of Fred’s family. Fred is also survived by his brother, Fr. William Martin; his daughters Eileen Whelan, Maureen Smith, Tara Koehler, Margaret Williamson, Patrice Martin, Julie Meyer, and Mary Paige Martin, and their spouses; his sons, John, Fred and Michael Martin, and their spouses; and his thirty grandchildren, Christine, Julie, Doug, Megan, Kate, Kelly, Brian, Katie, Liam, Kyle, Anna, Marina, Kaelin, Shaye, Brynn, Lea, Sarah, Sebastian, Niklas, Maria, Brendan, Eileen, Mary Catherine, Meg, Fiona, Finnian, Flannan, Kieran, Cora, and Amelia; and three great grandchildren, Liam, Maya and Freddy. Friends and family will gather for Fred’s wake at the Whelan & Ball Funeral Home, 168 Park Avenue, Yonkers, NY, on Sunday, October 16th, from 4-8pm. Fred’s funeral Mass will be held at the Monastery of the Sacred Heart Church, 110 Shonnard Place, Yonkers, NY, on Monday, October 17th, at 9:30am. In lieu of flowers, the Martin Family requests that you donate to your charity of choice, preferably one that serves the Huletts Landing or Yonkers communities, in memory of Fred.

Whalen & Ball Funeral Home

168 Park Ave.

Yonkers, N.Y. 10703

(914)965-5488

www.whalenandballfh.com