YEATMAN, R. H. Martin

R. H. Martin Yeatman, of Dartmouth, NS, passed away peacefully at Dartmouth General Hospital, on February 8, 2024, aged 93.

Martin is survived by his three children, Kristin, Eric (and Toni) and Paul (and Regan), his partner Michal and her children Jennifer (and Mike) and Jeremy (and Ljerka), his grandchildren Christopher, Stanley, Morgan, Théa, Evan and Maddie, and his brother Robert (and Linda).

Martin Yeatman was born in London England on November 9, 1930, to Harry and Sylvia (Wright) Yeatman. Martin received his primary schooling at the Dragon School in Oxford, but this would be interrupted by the Second World War and the Blitz of 1940. Many children were evacuated from London and the home counties during the Blitz, including Martin and his brother Robert, who were sent to New York to stay with their Aunt Fay, and her husband, the publisher Stanley Rinehart Jr. at their apartment on Park Avenue, where Martin thrived. On returning to England in 1943, Martin was sent as a boarder to Marlborough College in Wiltshire to complete his schooling.

School was followed by two years’ compulsory military service, which he served in the British Army, including a posting to Aden, then administered by Britain and now part of Yemen. After his service he began a degree in naval architecture at King’s College in Newcastle, then part of Durham University and now the University of Newcastle. After graduation he obtained a job at Aker’s Shipyard in Oslo. While at Oslo he met Rannveig Omang, the mother of his children, whom he married in 1958.

Martin and Rannveig were married in 1958, and emigrated to Canada in 1959, living in Montreal. They returned to Oslo in 1962, but soon returned to Canada again, this time permanently in 1963. Martin obtained a series of jobs in the marine industry in the Atlantic Provinces, including designing the Georgetown Shipyard in Prince Edward Island. They bought a house in Bedford, NS where the family would live until the children were grown. Martin was keen to have his own business, so with his Norwegian friend Anders Endal he formed the naval architecture and marine engineering firm Yeatman and Endal Associates. After a merger in 1967 with the engineering business of Morris Evans, this would become Evans, Yeatman and Endal, or E.Y.E. Marine Consultants.

E.Y.E. became a very successful and influential business in Eastern Canada. In ship design they focused on fishing vessels and ferries, including many vehicle and passenger ferries around the Maritimes, most significantly the iconic commuter ferries that cross Halifax Harbour and have become a symbol of the city. As construction of fishing vessels moved increasingly to Asia, they broadened their scope to include such vessels as offshore supply ships, and Canada’s first seismic survey vessel, the M/V Bernier, commissioned in 1983. Upon formal retirement, Martin passed on the firm to its employees, but he remained very active as an independent consultant and marine engineer, past the age of 90. Well into his 80s he could be found climbing down into the engine room of a ship to inspect some machinery. He also acquired a new technical interest in galvanic protection systems for ships, and was an agent for a manufacturer of these systems for many years.

Martin and Rannveig separated in 1987, and about a year later Martin met Michal King, a musician and music teacher from Dartmouth, with whom he would spend the rest of his life and certainly his happiest moments.

Martin Yeatman was highly talented in his technical field, and was deeply respected not just for his professional skill but also for his integrity as an engineer and businessman. Beyond that, his range of knowledge was vast, and he always maintained a deep intellectual interest and love of learning. Although not an active musician after his youth, he was a great lover of music. He and Michal participated very actively in the musical life of their church, St. George’s, the “Round Church” in Halifax, and Martin would enjoy listening to the piano lessons she would conduct at their home in Dartmouth. But perhaps what most who met him will remember him for, is his love of the sea, and all things nautical.

A memorial service is being planned for Sunday, June 16, 2024. Details will be posted on social media. Those wishing to make a gift in his memory could consider a donation to St. George’s at: https://www.roundchurch.ca/donate.