Nydia Martinez

Nydia H. Martinez passed away on December 17, 2022, surrounded by the love of her family. She had lived with Alzheimer’s for approximately 10 years. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend.

Born the youngest of three on June 1, 1932, in Morenci, Arizona to Juan and Filomena Hernandez, Nydia grew up in Phoenix. While attending Phoenix Union High School, she met her love, Jose E. Martinez, (Marty). He was temporarily assigned to Williams Air Force Base for Fighter Pilot Training, and she was in high school. She was an opera singer, a ballet dancer, and an artist and had a 4-year scholarship to attend college. She opted instead to marry Marty and become an Air Force wife. They married in 1950 and over the course of his career had five children. They lived in Albuquerque, NM, Phoenix, AZ, France, Denver, Japan and St Petersburg, FL. Before he retired, they moved back to Phoenix. Throughout this time she volunteered as the Red Cross Blood Drive Chairman at Yokota AFB in Japan during the Vietnam War, a team leader of medical evacuation services at Yokota, as an interpreter in the Lowry AFB Protocol office and at her kids’ schools to name a few of her volunteer efforts. She was one of the first group of mothers to organize a “March on Polio” in Phoenix in the 1950’s. While in Japan she also taught Mexican cooking classes to the folks on base and the chef of a Mexican restaurant in Tokyo. She used her earnings to buy musical instruments for her kids.

When Marty retired from the Air Force in 1972, Nydia used her lifelong volunteer experience to begin a career as an assistant director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. She worked there a total of nine years, six years as the Director. She oversaw 800 volunteers, three states and is credited with implementing a low-income energy assistance plan which reached 11,000 of the county’s elderly and handicapped populations in 1981. She left RSVP to work for over 10 years as the State Program Specialist for ACTION, a Federal Volunteer Agency. While there, she managed 3000 senior volunteers and was active in 15 community organizations.

In 1992, she and Marty both retired and enjoyed traveling and spending time with their family. Family dinners were large and loud and held every Sunday. There was always music, dancing, laughter and love. Marty passed in 2004 and slowly Nydia’s light began to dim. When it was determined she had Alzheimer’s, her family committed to making sure one of them saw her every day. That continued for over 10 years. Her influence on our lives has been immeasurable and we will miss her every day.

Nydia was preceded in death by her husband Jose E. Martinez, her granddaughter Kimberly Trocki, brother Philbert Hernandez and sister Emma Albert. She leaves behind her sons Dan (Debra), John (Lori), Charles (Julie), daughters Andrea Trocki, Theresa Gilliam (Greg), 28 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Join us as we lay Nydia to rest. Services will be December 30, 2022 at West Resthaven Funeral Home (6450 W. Northern, Glendale, AZ 85301). Viewing begins at 12:00 PM, followed by the service at 1:00 PM with graveside service to follow at 2:00 PM.

Donations in memory of Nydia can be made at act.alz.org