James Earl Martin, age 77, was called home on July 29, 2020 at his home in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. Jim (as most called him) was born on March 10, 1943 in East St. Louis, Illinois to Ethel and Earl Martin.
Jim met and married the love of his life, Violet, at a young age and they went on to raise four wonderful children together. She unfortunately passed in 2016 after 56 faithful years of marriage.
When Jim & Violet were only 20 years old, they decided to head west to start a new life for themselves in California. Upon arrival, Jim found employment at Big Bear Timber where he learned to work on big rigs. He then moved onto E.L. Yeager construction company. He eventually decided to pursue entrepreneurship and built his still-standing, successful business, Big Rig Truck Repair in Fontana, Ca. His work ethic and integrity was second to none. Big Rig, which was one of Jim’s greatest accomplishments, has been around 45 years, 36 of which Jim worked until his retirement and the passing of the business onto his two sons, whom continue his legacy of achievement in business today.
Jim loved classic cars, as well as motorcycles. He attended many car shows throughout the years and even happened to win a trophy once for one of his own cars, a Jaguar. One of Jim’s best attributes was his sense of humor, always making the family laugh with his timely one-liners. Jim was a devout & generous family man who loved blessing his kids & grandkids over the years. He looked for opportunities to meet the needs of those around him. In his later years he committed his life to the Lord and would attend Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Ca as his health permitted.
He is preceded in death by his wife Violet, his sister Barbara and his oldest brother Junior. He is survived by his three brothers Bill, Don and Bob; his 4 children Jane, Leanna, Jim Jr. & Larry; 9 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
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