Matthew Martin, 81, of Dartmouth died Friday May 9, 2008 at home after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was the husband of the late Mary Lucy (Varao) Martin; they had been married for 57 years.
Born in Lowell, the son of the late Jacinto and Emily Martin, he lived in New Bedford before moving to Dartmouth 40 years ago.
Mr. Martin was formerly employed as a draftsman at Morse Cutting Tools until his retirement.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army, where he served in the Pacific Theater and Occupied Japan.
He was an active member of St. Mary's Church, where he served as a Eucharistic minister and lector. He was also chairman of the parish country fair and was a captain for the booster club.
He was also very active in the St. Vincent DePaul Society, serving as president at the parish level and New Bedford district level, and vice president of the Diocesan Council. He received the Top Hat award for his years of service to the society. He and his late wife operated the St. Vincent dePaul Salvage Center which collected and distributed clothing to the needy of the community. He also received the Jubilarian award for 54 years of service to the St. Vincent dePaul Society. He had also served as chairman of the Bishop's Charity Ball. He was the recipient of the Marian Medal from the Diocese of Fall River.
Survivors include three children, Michael Martin and his wife Gail of St. Petersburg, FL, Susan Pierce and her husband Kyle, and Patricia Magellan and her husband Robert, all of Dartmouth; his son-in-law, Victor M. Carreiro of Fairhaven; a sister, Mary Botelho of Acushnet; a brother, Harold Martin and his wife Lydia of Acushnet; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He was the father of the late Dolores V. Carreiro.
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at 9 AM at St. Mary's Church, South Dartmouth. Burial with military honors will follow at the Mass. National Cemetery, Bourne. Visiting hours will be on Sunday from 4-8 PM at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the St. Vincent dePaul Society, St. Mary's Church, 783 Dartmouth St., Dartmouth, MA 02748 or the American Cancer Society, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.