Jennie Martinez

Jennie was proceeded in death by her parents, former spouse Arthur, son Michael, daughter Sally, and 13 of her siblings. She is survived by her daughter Margie (Rich), son Henry (Valerie), and one sister Mary Villa. She is also survived by five grandchildren: Phoenicia, Henry Jr., Steven, Daniel, and Matthew, and five great-grandchildren: Ava, Ayden, Evan, Ezra and Harvey.

Raised in Buckeye since childhood, Jennie graduated from Buckeye Union High School. Her passion was home economics. In 1947 she married Arthur Martinez and together they had four children: Sally, Michael, Margie, and Henry.

In 1968, she joined Arthur in opening the Oasis restaurant. In 1975, she went on to open Arturo’s Mexican Food restaurant in Goodyear. She was a hard and very determined worker. She always said, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Jennie had a deep love and devotion for her family. She loved spending time with them at Sunday dinners and holiday gatherings, and whenever they would visit. She also loved traveling with her family, dancing, and playing Gin Rummy.

She was a woman of strong faith and attended daily mass for 46 years. A great joy in her life is when she was in church choir in high school and then again at St Thomas Aquinas. While with the St. Thomas Aquinas choir, she traveled to Rome to sing for the pope.

She was a chef, a seamstress, and an artist. Her artistic talent for painting came about when she was at her Strawberry home, where she created her numerous paintings.

Everybody loved her infectious smile and she will be deeply missed.

Farewell for now, until we meet again.

A visitation and recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 8:30AM on August 29 at Thompson Funeral in Goodyear, Arizona. A funeral service will follow at 10:30AM at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Burial will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Hospice of the Valley.