Obituary for Ian Douglas Martin
Ian Douglas Martin: A Tribute
With the deepest sadness, we announce the death of Ian Douglas Martin, who passed away early in the morning on Wednesday July 27th, in his 67th year, at Guelph General Hospital, following a catastrophic, cancer-induced, stroke the previous morning. For the past two years he battled against his illness, despite knowing all-too-well that the long-term prognosis was not positive. Family and friends take some solace in the knowledge that he was pain-free during his last hours, and that we, his family, were present at his bedside and able to give him comfort during that last day.
He was our dearly beloved husband (Jane Rutherford) and father (Emily Martin and Neil Martin, and future son-in-law Tyler Auld). He was predeceased many years ago by his mother (Edith Martin) and father (Johnnie Martin), and mother-in-law (Sybil Rutherford). He is survived by an extended family of cousins in Scotland and Canada – the family is far-flung but maintains close contact.
Throughout his lifetime he built a large network of close friends in the fly-fishing community, sharing with them a passion for the outdoors and for the conservation of freshwater habitats. He was a long-time member of Friends of the Grand River, serving for years on the executive board, often acting as the point-person on projects involving various government agencies and the FOGR. His love of fishing for brown trout in the Grand River was the impetus for buying river-side property and building a family home here in Centre Wellington. Even when not fishing, Ian enjoyed the peace and quiet of our river-side location; a love of rivers and all the creatures that live in them was a constant throughout his life.
Ian was well-educated and intellectually curious; after graduating from KCI (Kitchener Collegiate Institute) he earned a BSc from the University of Waterloo (UW), a MSc from the University of Toronto and a PhD from UW. His professional life was focused on the statistical analysis of environmental data – he applied his extensive expertise in multi-variate statistics to projects focused on the effects of mining, pulp mills, and environmental insults to human health. He especially valued his involvement in human-health projects centred on First Nations people of northern Ontario and Québec.
He parlayed his passion for fly fishing into writing numerous articles on trout and salmon fishing for well-respected magazines such as The Atlantic Salmon Journal and Pêche à la Mouche. Local fishers know Ian as the co-author of a handy little book, Fly Fishing the Grand River. Fishing took him to wonderful wild rivers all over the world: Argentina, Chile, Iceland, Norway, the USA, England and Scotland – and of course to his much-loved rivers of the Gaspé. Everywhere he went he made good friends with those of like-mind; via his membership in various on-line groups, he made deep friendships despite rarely ever meeting those friends in person. So many of these friends have contacted his family with condolences, citing Ian’s his knowledge, generosity, his kindness, his sense of humour and his sincerity. He is sorely missed by us all.
A Celebration of Ian’s Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, August 4th in the chapel at the Graham A. Giddy Funeral Home, with a reception to follow upstairs. Jane, Emily and Neil invites family and friends to gather afterwards at our home for an informal Open House, where we expect to share many tall tales of adventures on his favourite rives, featuring fish caught or lost.
With the deepest sadness, we announce the death of Ian Douglas Martin, who passed away early in the morning on Wednesday July 27th, in his 67th year, at Guelph General Hospital, following a catastrophic, cancer-induced, stroke the previous morning. For the past two years he battled against his illness, despite knowing all-too-well that the long-term prognosis was not positive. Family and friends take some solace in the knowledge that he was pain-free during his last hours, and that we, his family, were present at his bedside and able to give him comfort during that last day.
He was our dearly beloved husband (Jane Rutherford) and father (Emily Martin and Neil Martin, and future son-in-law Tyler Auld). He was predeceased many years ago by his mother (Edith Martin) and father (Johnnie Martin), and mother-in-law (Sybil Rutherford). He is survived by an extended family of cousins in Scotland and Canada – the family is far-flung but maintains close contact.
Throughout his lifetime he built a large network of close friends in the fly-fishing community, sharing with them a passion for the outdoors and for the conservation of freshwater habitats. He was a long-time member of Friends of the Grand River, serving for years on the executive board, often acting as the point-person on projects involving various government agencies and the FOGR. His love of fishing for brown trout in the Grand River was the impetus for buying river-side property and building a family home here in Centre Wellington. Even when not fishing, Ian enjoyed the peace and quiet of our river-side location; a love of rivers and all the creatures that live in them was a constant throughout his life.
Ian was well-educated and intellectually curious; after graduating from KCI (Kitchener Collegiate Institute) he earned a BSc from the University of Waterloo (UW), a MSc from the University of Toronto and a PhD from UW. His professional life was focused on the statistical analysis of environmental data – he applied his extensive expertise in multi-variate statistics to projects focused on the effects of mining, pulp mills, and environmental insults to human health. He especially valued his involvement in human-health projects centred on First Nations people of northern Ontario and Québec.
He parlayed his passion for fly fishing into writing numerous articles on trout and salmon fishing for well-respected magazines such as The Atlantic Salmon Journal and Pêche à la Mouche. Local fishers know Ian as the co-author of a handy little book, Fly Fishing the Grand River. Fishing took him to wonderful wild rivers all over the world: Argentina, Chile, Iceland, Norway, the USA, England and Scotland – and of course to his much-loved rivers of the Gaspé. Everywhere he went he made good friends with those of like-mind; via his membership in various on-line groups, he made deep friendships despite rarely ever meeting those friends in person. So many of these friends have contacted his family with condolences, citing Ian’s his knowledge, generosity, his kindness, his sense of humour and his sincerity. He is sorely missed by us all.
A Celebration of Ian’s Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, August 4th in the chapel at the Graham A. Giddy Funeral Home, with a reception to follow upstairs. Jane, Emily and Neil invites family and friends to gather afterwards at our home for an informal Open House, where we expect to share many tall tales of adventures on his favourite rives, featuring fish caught or lost.