Posted by Terry Powers on November 22, 2022:

Abner Broadwater Martin, born May 25 1927, third son of John Landrum and Blanche (Wheeler) Martin of Fairforest, South Carolina, passed away Thursday, August 11, 2011 at age 84. The cause of death was Alzheimer's Disease. Born into a family of modest circumstances with a strong respect for learning and higher education, he taught himself radio repair from a correspondence course, showing ambition and early aptitude as an entrepreneur. He decided while in high school at Fairforest that he wanted to attend West Point Military Academy in New York, which offered the chance of a free education to a limited few who exhibited the academic prowess, strength of character and persistence to win the necessary appointment through their state representative. In the interim, deciding that high school was not challenging enough, he left before graduating and enrolled at Clemson A & M College and then later North Carolina State University while pursuing his appointment to West Point. It finally came through in 1945 from Congressman Joe Bryson. Four years later on the 7th of June 1949 he graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. On that same day he and his high school sweetheart Agnes Smith (who had acquired the nickname "Smitty" during her Cadet Nurse Training) were married in the Cadet Chapel at West Point. He pursued his interests in flying and engineering as his Air Force assignments took him back and forth across the United States with intermittent breaks to pursue educational opportunities whenever he could. His assignments included Flight Training; Flight Instructor; Project Officer in Air Force Aeronautics; Inertial Guidance for the Atlas and Titan Missiles; Director of Airborne Systems; Director of Minuteman III; Director of Technical Operations for Limited War (with a tour in Vietnam); Director of the Air Force Armaments Lab; Director of the Air Force Ballistic Re-Entry Program; Program Director of Minuteman; Program Director of the B-1 Bomber and Director of the Defense Mapping Agency. In between assignments he earned a Masters degree in Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Masters from the Army War College, a Masters in International Affairs from George Washington University and a Masters in Business from Harvard University's Advanced Management Program. After 30 years with the Air Force, he retired in 1979 with the rank of Lieutenant General. Decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the Bronze Star, among others. Not ready to stop working yet, he became Vice President of Defense and Aerospace with the Sperry Corporation, a job he enjoyed until his second retirement in 1986. At that time he and Smitty retired to a home on a golf course in Rockwall, Texas. In 2005 Ab was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. In 2007 Ab and Smitty returned to the Greenville area to be closer to family, settling at Rolling Green Village. He is survived by his wife Smitty, sons Alan of Simpsonville, SC; Dan of Redondo Beach, CA; daughter Melanie of Larchmont, NY, and sister-in-law Ethel (Dodson) Martin of Greenville, SC. He was buried in a private graveside ceremony with military honors at Fairforest Baptist Church on August 16, 2011. SPOUSE Agnes (Smitty) Martin died May 21, 2015 after a brief illness, at home in Rolling Green Village, with caregivers and family in attendance. She was 88. Smitty was born July 24, 1926, in Greenville Hospital to Pauline Dalton and Euen Terence Smith. She grew up in and around Greenville SC until moving at the age of 14 to Fairforest, in Spartanburg County. In high school she met her future husband, Abner B. Martin. When Abner left school to attend West Point Military Academy, Agnes took advantage of the new government program of the Cadet Nurse Corps. She trained in Rutherfordton NC, Richmond VA and at St Francis Hospital in Greenville SC, becoming an RN in 1949, and acquired the nickname "Smitty" which she was known by to friends and family for the rest of her life. In 1949 she traveled to West Point where she and Abner married on graduation day in the West Point Chapel. After graduation she worked in nursing for a short time, but soon turned her attention to raising a family, and became a full-time homemaker and mother to three children. As Abner's rank rose to Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force, so did Smitty's responsibilities. She took on a leadership role in the affiliated women's organizations, with fundraising, charitable works, and projects such as blood drives with the Red Cross, in addition to her obligatory social activities. She enjoyed the travel and the many moves associated with the military life. She was an avid reader and became an avid golfer, and enjoyed many crafts and sewing for herself, family and others. For many years she volunteered her sewing skills at a succession of nursing homes repairing clothing and sewing special projects for the facilities. Smitty and Abner retired to Rockwall Texas, but returned to their roots in 2008, when Abner developed Alzheimer's disease and they needed to be closer to family. Abner died in 2011, and is buried at Fairforest Baptist Church. Smitty will be cremated and her remains will be interred with Abner in a private family ceremony.

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