After a long illness, Arvie Roland Martin of Lake Forest, California, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 17, 2022, surrounded by loving family and friends. He was 81.

He was born in 1941 in Downey, California, to Roland and Violet Martin. Because of a bureaucratic snafu never corrected, the date was somewhat in question — his official birth certificate lists March 8, but his actual arrival was April 8. Appropriate for the jokester he was, the mixup was a source of 81 years worth of amusement about his two birthdays.

Arvie is survived by his wife of 45 years, Debra Martin, at their home. They married Dec. 26, 1976, after a three-month courtship. He is also survived by their daughter and son-in-law, Emily and Dana Mifflin of Lake Stevens, Washington; and sons from a previous marriage and their wives, Arvie Jr. and Denise Martin  of California; Todd and Rhonda Martin and Chad and Laura Martin, all of Colorado. He previously was married to Virginia Miller.

The proud and devoted grandfather never missed important milestones in his grandchildren's lives. They include Jake Martin, James Martin, Casey Weiser, Chris Martin, Caitlin Martin, David Martin and Kenneth Martin, Nathtan Scharnhorst, and Walter and Marcella Mifflin. He also has two great grandchildren Orson and Margaret Weiser.

Arvie is also survived by his brother, Jerry Martin of Riverside, California. He was preceded in death by his sister, Faustine Hull.

Arvie was an athlete and active sportsman his whole life. At Plateau Valley High School in Colorado, he was a proud member of the state champion football team and personally set a state pole-vaulting record — with a bamboo pole in the days before fiberglass came into use.

As a young man, Arvie was a police officer with the City of Costa Mesa and later became a tool, dye and mold maker and machinist working for companies mostly in the biomedical field. He continued in that career until his illness forced his retirement in 2020.

Outside of work, Arvie was a man of many passions: an avid reader; an expert chef and baker, who tended to his homemade sourdough starter; and an active sportsman, hunting for elk and doves, flyfishing and deep-sea fishing. He was a marksman, enjoying clay shooting and won a local bench-rest shooting championship. Adamant about safety, he was a volunteer safety ranger at his shooting range. He was also a skilled gunsmith.

His family fondly remembers Arvie's upbeat demeanor and propensity for jokes that sometimes took on a life of their own. Once, when he and Debra were having breakfast before dove-hunting, he exclaimed about the high price of butter, insisting she stow some foil-wrapped butter pats in her purse. After a day in the sweltering desert, Debra's purse was a butter-soaked mess. Family members would razz her for years, asking her to put all manner of things in her purse.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Kidney Foundation.