Samuel H. Martin, 91

November 19, 2023

Samuel H. Martin, 91, of Lancaster, passed away on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at Maple Farms Nursing Center surrounded by his family.

He was the son of the late James H Martin and Clara S (Horst) Martin. He was the husband of Georgia L. (Lefever) Martin and they were married for 68 years.

He was a member at Grace Community Church of Willow Street. Sam’s faith was very important to him and over the years he served his church in many different ways including song leader, Sunday school teacher and even giving the sermon on multiple occasions.

Born in Blue Ball, Sam grew up on the family farm and was asked to quit school to work on the farm before completing his high school education. After marrying Georgie, he worked as a licensed plumber before deciding to make a career change. He completed his GED and went on to attend Eastern Mennonite University for three years and spent another two years at Hahnemann University before receiving his degree in Biochemistry.

Soon after Sam had his degree, he and Georgie committed to three years of missionary work at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti under MCC. Upon completing their service, they returned to Lancaster and Sam became the head of the Chemistry Laboratory at Lancaster General Hospital where he served for twenty-six years.

Sam had many passions and after his retirement from the hospital he was able to commitment more time to all of them. He loved golfing with his brothers, vegetable gardening, singing with the Franconia-Lancaster Choral Singers, following his favorite Philadelphia sports teams, retreats to the mountains with fiends, cooking for his hunting club and spending time with his family.

Sam was never one to sit around and any extra time was spent making model cars and trucks in his wood shop. He was a member of the Pa. Guild of Craftsman and annually displayed and sold his creations at the Long’s Park Art Festival where he had a loyal customer following that retuned on an annual basis to add to their collection.

Sam loved adventure and sought to travel the world. In addition to his three years in Haiti Sam also made multiple trips to China with Joni & Friends delivering wheelchairs to the disabled, sang with his chorus in Russia and made pleasure trips to Israel, Europe & Scotland and all over the United States.

Sam’s boyish exuberance and love of life will be missed by all who ever came in contact with him.

In addition to his wife, Georgia, he is survived by his sons, Robin (Beth) Dale Martin, and Richard (Marlene) Dean Martin; his siblings, Mildred (Jim) Hertzler, Charlie (Joyce) Martin, Rev. Wil (Barbara) Martin, Richard (Ann) Martin, and Norma (Bruce) Stauffer; grandchildren, Jordan (Chip) Clark, Lindsey (Joe) Corbo, Zachery, Drew, Dylan, Trey, and Gabriella; and one very great-grandson, Wilder.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Russel Dwane Martin; and sisters, Marian Shenk and Betty McGee.

Services will be held privately at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Sam’s name to Joni and Friends through the following link: https://joniandfriends.org/.