Robert A. Martinez

Robert A. Martinez was born on August 1, 1939, in Denver, Colorado. He was the eldest of four children born to Henrietta and Joe Martinez Jr. Siblings include Ernest, Antoinette, and Edna. According to a family member’s genealogical documentation, Robert was the 14th generation born after his ancestor left Jerez de la Frontera in southwest Spain in 1509, and went to the western hemisphere.

In early years, Robert and his family lived in the South Platte region of “South” Denver. During WWII, Robert’s father served as a gunner on a B-24 and flew several missions to Europe. During this time Robert, Ernie, and Henrietta lived with Robert’s grandparents and the family frequently went back and forth between both sets of grandparents’ homes in the same neighborhood.

Robert recalled playing in a ditch that ran along his maternal grandparents’ property line and riding a miniature train that a neighbor had built along the ditch to give rides to the neighborhood kids. Other childhood memories include playing in Ruby Hill Park. During this time, Robert attended Rosedale Elementary School in South Denver where he excelled in playing marbles with his classmates.

When his father returned from service in WWII, Robert and family moved to the Highland neighborhood of North Denver in a house on Navajo Street. During this time, Robert attended Horace Mann Jr. High School.

When Robert was about 15 years old, his family moved to Arvada. Robert attended Arvada High School where played trumpet in the marching band and graduated in 1957. While living in Arvada, Robert had a newspaper route and worked at a local restaurant, Bernards. After high school, Robert bought his first car, a Chevy convertible, and moved briefly to the San Francisco area to live with his paternal grandparents while pursuing work there.

Shortly after high school, Robert met Viola Valdez. They married on June 25, 1960, at St. Anne Catholic Church in Arvada and honeymooned in Colorado Springs. In June 2010, the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with several members of their original wedding party.

Robert and Viola have two sons, James and Dan.

Robert worked various jobs early in the marriage, as a truck driver for a local auto parts store, as a “body and fender” man as he called it (repairing damaged autos), and he was a night shift supervisor at a Denver area mail operation firm. During this time Robert bought and reconditioned a 1955 Chevy Bel Air and later a 1957 Chevy Nomad station wagon.

The family moved to North Denver in April 1968. In the early 1970’s, Robert began working for the Denver Public Schools in the grounds department. He became supervisor of this department prior to his “retirement” in or around 1994. Afterwards, Robert continued to work various part-time jobs for many years.

Robert and Viola liked to travel in their truck and camper, and they spent a great deal of time boating, fishing, and water skiing in Colorado. They also traveled to California, Utah, Arizona, Yellowstone, and other National Parks. Robert and Viola traveled to many other places throughout the years. Some of their memorable trips included Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., New York City, Branson, Nashville, Hawaii, Panama Canal cruise, U.S. Virgin Islands, and an Alaskan cruise.

Other hobbies included photography, fixing “things,” and woodworking. In the late 1980’s and throughout the 90’s, Robert and Viola were often found square dancing around Colorado and they developed lifelong friendships as part of the Square Halos group. Over the years many family members contributed to Robert’s collection of miniature rams, as his initials were R.A.M.

Robert and Viola moved to Lakewood in 1988. In August 1996, Robert and Viola had the pleasure of witnessing Dan and Vickie’s marriage on Lookout Mountain. In September 2001, James and Lisa were married.

Robert and Viola became grandparents in 2003 when Sam was born, and Ayla arrived in the family in 2014.

Robert was frequently found cheering for Sam’s tae kwon do tournaments, baseball, basketball, and football games, and for Ayla’s soccer, basketball, baseball, and volleyball games.

In February 2022, Robert’s beloved wife of 61 years, Viola, died after several years of challenging illnesses. Robert was a devoted husband, took great care of Viola and was holding her hand when she passed in hospice care.

Robert is survived by sons, James (Lisa), Dan (Vickie); grandchildren, Sam and Ayla; sister, Tonie; brothers-in-law, Ron and Paul; sister-in-law, Teresa; numerous nieces and nephews; cousins, and many more extended family and friends.