Blaine Martin

Mr. Blaine Miller Martin

May 12, 1951 - October 26, 2024

Blaine Miller Martin, age 73, passed away on Saturday, October 26, 2024, in his home in Fleetwood.

Born in Reading, PA, he was raised by his late parents, Janice and Blaine Martin.

Blaine was a 1969 graduate of Mount Penn High School where his Grandfather opened Martin’s Texaco, a gas station and car repair service. The business also owned a stock car that competed in local race tracks including the Reading Fairgrounds where Blaine had fun helping in the pits as a teenager. He was a member of the Mount Penn 1968 class C high school basketball state championship team. This included a memorable team plane trip to Pittsburgh and meeting Vice President Hubert Humphrey for a photo op.

Blaine and his wife, Donna Martin, celebrated 50 years of marriage as high school sweethearts on May 19, 2023. The milestone included a memorable family trip vacation to the Hershey Hotel including his three Grandchildren for fun on the amusement rides, swimming pool, and excessive chocolate consumption.

Blaine was a proud employee of the U.S. Postal Service for 43 years, from 1970 to his retirement in 2013. He lived in Fleetwood since 1975 when he accepted a full time job with the Post Office after spending time as a substitute, filling in for letter carriers around Berks County on a daily need.

Blaine was a union steward for his fellow letter carrier colleagues, attended national postal conventions with his favorite being to Hawaii, and revelled interaction with the people on his route. This included dressing up as Santa’s assistant each year and lighting up the eyes of the young children who greeted him as he addressed them with their first and last names from memory, along with handing them gifts. In 1979, Blaine helped provide a field trip tour with his fellow postal workers for his son’s kindergarten class, a very fun memory where his son thought it was so cool that Dad greeted his classmates at the Post Office door following the class’s walk.

As a mailman, Blaine’s favorite show, by far, was the Weather Channel, allowing Blaine to provide the Martin household in the 80’s and 90’s with in-person am weather summaries to prepare their days. He served as a precursor to Google before computers by providing on the spot Fleetwood addresses for his family’s thank you card creation and other address needs, instead of having to dig out the giant telephone books of that era, as he had much of Fleetwood memorized from his route, thus occasionally swapping out “Mailman” for “Rainman” on the home front by his family.

Blaine enjoyed taking his breaks at various Fleetwood businesses where he supported their products, including Snyder’s Sunoco on the edge of town, where he engaged in friendly arm wresting contests at the counter with his son who worked there from 1989-1993. Blaine provided a mini-at-home post office service by always taking care of family sending needs, thus his family is not very comfortable even today with preparing packages or visiting the post office window as it seems so foreign to them. Blaine’s daily work ethic carried over to his family as they witnessed his endless energy though sickness, snowstorms, hurricanes, and heatwaves to meet the needs of his employment.

Blaine greatly enjoyed his Fleetwood community and sports activities. He served as a member of legendary high school coach Ray Buss’s Youth Soccer program from 1981-1988, spending extensive time after work and on weekends coaching and supporting various travel teams. Working on Saturdays, he regretted the games he couldn’t attend, but would often go out of his way and leave for the post office early in the am, deliver the mail at flash speed, and drive down on his lunch break in uniform to watch his childrens’ weekend events. Blaine also spent two years as an assistant coach of Village Motors in Fleetwood’s Little League baseball program from 1986-1987.

One of Blaine’s passions was driving to the Reading High School’s Geigle Complex and other surrounding destinations to watch high profile east coast basketball games. This offered his family the opportunity to witness future NBA stars Billy Owens (Carlisle, PA), Donyell Marshall (Reading, PA), Rasheed Wallace (Simon Gratz, Philadelphia, PA), Lonnie Walker (Reading, PA), Wayne Ellington (Daniel Boone, PA) and Kobe Bryant (Lower Merion, PA).

In 1988, Blaine was approached to take on boys and girls high school basketball clock duties which he owned for 31 years through 2019. His responsibilities also expanded into the “Voice of the Tigers” as the announcer at Fleetwood boys high school soccer games. Blaine’s dedication and enthusiasm earned him induction into the PA Berks County Hall of Fame in 2009.

In 1992 and 1993, Blaine served as the impromptu Penn State Berks soccer team photographer at the championship games those years in State College, PA next to Beaver Stadium at Jeffrey Field. Blaine was able to capture the 1993 moments of his son’s teammates and their championship season.

Always excited to get involved, Blaine also served as a member of Fleetwood’s planning commission for multiple years.

Blaine’s favorite moments were the simple times with his family and three Grandchildren. He especially had fun cheering them on at sports events, attending ballet recitals, watching NASCAR races, going to Monster Truck events, fishing, and always being their “Pap Pap”.

Blaine had an incredible thirteen years of retirement traveling with Donna to Florida and other destinations including the Poconos regularly, being at all three of his Grandchildren’s births, taking trips to NYC, hanging at the Fleetwood pool, spending time at Hersheypark, and enjoying life with laughter.

Blaine was local to Granddaughter Natalia and one of her daily caregivers in her early years while her parents were at work. They hold a special bond as Pap Pap would play sports in the basement with Natalia, open sports card packs together, and never missing any of her soccer or basketball games while cheering her on as her biggest fan. He would always play with her on the floor as a baby and toddler, no matter how tired or sore he might be from a long day.

In addition to his wife, Blaine is survived by:

Sister Sharon Brilliantine and her husband Randy Brilliantine of Lenexa, KS.

Daughter Ashley Martin-Zielinski and husband Damian Zielinski, Granddaughter Natalia Zielinski, of Wernersville, PA.

Son Chris Martin and wife Angela Chang, Granddaughter Caitlin Martin and Grandson Evan Martin of New York, NY.

We wish to acknowledge Kate Peires, CRNP, Marc Rovito, MD, FACP, and their nursing staff who stood by Blaine every step of the way during his colon cancer journey.

Memorial services for Blaine will not be held as were his wishes. Dad is quoted as saying, “I’m not interested in a funeral, I really don’t want people gawking at me ” Dad wanted his family to not lose a beat in their lives, thus he allowed us the flexibility the day after his passing to attend Hersheypark where he and Mom have been season pass holders since 2018. Being at one of his favorite places, eating his foods and drinks, traveling on his park pathways, and going on his top rides was very calming and a fantastic way to celebrate his life. Dad’s Grandchildren were able to continue forward with a first concert that had been planned with friends, high school entrance exam, Halloween Trick-or-Treating, and a soccer game, just the way he wanted it.

In lieu of flowers or donations, we wish you to put your funds to yourselves and your families, make memories as Dad used to always wish with us, laugh, and enjoy life, thank you.

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