OBITUARIES

AVON, INDIANA - Ed Martin, 81, died on February 24, 2022 in Indianapolis, IN. He was born in Gainesville, GA but lived in Grif n, Macon, and Atlanta, GA before moving to Indianapolis in 1976. He graduated from Lanier Sr. High School for Boys with Honors, from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree and from Indiana University with an Executive Master of Business Administration degree. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army of the United States and served three years from 1962-1965 in Germany. Upon returning home, he joined Southern Engineering Company of Georgia in Atlanta. For eleven years he performed engineering and business services for Rural Electric Cooperatives. In 1976, he became CEO of the Wabash Valley Power Association, a generation and transmission cooperative in northern Indiana. He served as CEO for the next thirty years, and grew the company to provide service in four Midwest states to rural electric membership corporations. Ed was a graduate and in the Presidents Club of the American Management Association. He served as Chairman of various committees with the National G&T Managers Association. Ed was a founder and rst CEO of ACES (Alliance for Cooperative Energy Services) that provides wholesale electric and gas marketing services nationwide. Through the Training arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) he presented management speeches and comments to many national rural electric meetings. He managed Wabash Valley through its rationalization of its investment in the defunct Marble Hill Nuclear Plant. At the end of over fteen years of litigation and extensive negotiations, Wabash Valley became a vibrant nancially sound company divorced from the Rural Utilities Services component of the US Department of Agriculture. Upon retirement in 2005, he joined RW Beck, Inc. as an executive consultant for three years.

A lifelong member of the Methodist Church, he was a member of Avon United Methodist for the past 22 years where he served on numerous church committees and led the church s nancial effort to becoming a sustainable church of service. He served on the Board of Directors of the Fletcher Place Community Center located on theSouthside of Indianapolis and on the Board of Metro Ministries, a mission s arm of the Central District of the United Methodist Church. He was a charter member of ionsville, IN Rotary Club serving in the line of of cer positions including President; was a board member of Leadership Hendricks County and a 2009 graduate of that organization s teaching practices; he served as President of the AvonWashington Township study committee on consolidation; was a member and President of both the Hendricks County Sheriff s Merit Board and the Avon-Washington Township Civilian Fire Safety Board; and was a sustaining member of New elds, the Indiana Historical Society, and the Economic Club of Indiana. He was a long standing Democrat,a member of the Indiana Democratic Party Gold Circle Club, served as Washington Precinct 3 Committeeman, ran for Washington Township Trustee and for the Township Board.

Ed was an Eagle Scout with palms; and played

i h trumpet in concert, marching, jazz bands, and the symphony orchestra in Macon, GA. He served in ROTC for 10 years. His interests included golf, reading, performances at Beef and Boards Theatre, world-wide traveling, and family visits across the United States.

Ed was preceded in death by parents Jack Edward (Ferne Alicia Ellison) Martin, Lula, GA. Survivors include his wife, Charlotte Martin, Indianapolis, IN; son Brian (Hyun) Martin, Gaithersburg, MD; daughter Laura Mc ay, Cary, NC; step-sons Rev. Dr. . Lynn (Wendy) Lewis, Jr., Sugar Land, TX; and Wes (Lynn) Lewis, Columbus, GA; nine grandchildren Alex DolbyRoark and Diana Roark, Cary, NC; Cameron and Sean Martin, Gaithersburg, MD; rista (Ryan) Hentz, Smyrna, GA; Mark Lewis, Chattanooga, TN; Scotty Lewis, Sugar Land, TX; and Jacob and Joshua Lewis, Columbus, GA; and two great-grandchildren Bella and Hattie Hentz, Smyrna, GA; sister June LaRo ue, Waycross, GA; nephew Richard (Mae) Eaves, San Antonio, TX; niece Guzel Eaves, Waycross, GA; grand-nephews Patrick (Vanessa) Eaves, Round Rock, TX; Alex Eaves, Waycross, GA; grand-nieces Amanda Eaves, Atlanta, GA; Tabi (Chris) Black, Valdosta, GA; and Diana Eaves, Waycross, GA.

Honorary PallbearersWesleyan Sunday School Class, Leadership Hendricks County Class of 2009, Hendricks County Sheriff s Merit Board, and Washington Township Fire Merit Board.

Visitation will be Friday, March 4, 2022 from 3-5 PM and 6-8 PM. Funeral will be Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 11 AM. Both Visitation and Funeral will be at Avon United Methodist Church, 6850 East US Highway 36, Avon, IN 46123. In lieu of owers, memorials may be made to Avon United Methodist Church, Leadership Hendricks County, Hendricks County Democrat Party, or Georgia Tech.

An additional service will be held at Wallis-Wilbanks Funeral Home, 121 West Villanow Street, LaFayette, GA 30728 on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 1 PM followed by Interment at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, LaFayette, GA.

I AM NOT THERE

Do not stand by my grave and weep, for I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am diamonds that glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning hush I am the swift uplifting rush of butterflies stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.

— Author Unknown

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”

— Elisabeth Kubler-Ross