Donald “Tiny” Martinez, who died Saturday at age 74, earned a second nickname – “Tuff” – for the stalwart spirit that never hesitated to respond to challenges that included repeatedly recuperating from broken arms.
The son of a coal miner, he grew up in the tiny Front Range mining town of Puritan. His childhood was cut short when his mother died giving birth to one of his siblings.
Faced overnight with caring alone for five sons, Martinez’s father sent his youngest child, then 2, to live with relatives and lied about Donald’s age, then 4, to get him into kindergarten. Being a year younger and smaller than his classmates earned him the “Tiny” moniker, which stuck even after he grew into an average-sized adult.
“We’re still hearing from people who didn’t know his real name,” said his daughter, Pauline Martinez.
After graduating from Erie High School, Martinez enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served stateside in the motor pool. Upon returning to civilian life, he went into the construction business, erecting chain- link fences at commercial building sites.
That career ended when a worksite accident dumped a flatbed truckload of construction materials on him.
At the last moment, he threw out his arms to protect his face and chest. Both arms took a direct hit, leaving the bones so shattered that surgeons installed metal plates to support fractures that never healed.
He left the hospital with his arms in casts arranged in an almost comical extension in front of his chest. Pauline Martinez, then 3 months old, fit perfectly in the cradle formed by her father’s casts. She grew up hearing stories about the hours he spent holding her as she napped.
The older Martinez children helped feed and dress their father. They lit his cigarettes and tapped out the ash when it was too long, afterward replacing the filter between his lips.
With a choice of retiring on worker’s compensation or training for a new job, Martinez elected to become a draftsman. He was a skilled artist and liked the notion of being paid to draw for a living.
His arms never fully recovered. Martinez endured several more surgeries and casts to repair broken metal plates, but he continued his painting and woodworking hobbies.
Upon retiring in 1997, Martinez became an usher for Colorado Rockies home games. He rarely missed a shift. His family plans to bury him in a Rockies jersey, with the pin-studded hat that testified to his faithful attendance.
Survivors include daughters Rhonda Garza of Highlands Ranch, Linda Garrier of Aurora, and Rose Chavira, Pauline Martinez and Susie Huls, all of Thornton; sons Donald Martinez of Steamboat Springs and Daniel Martinez of Aurora; 11 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A rosary will be at 7 tonight, with a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Thursday, both at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 9371 Wigham St. in Thornton.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
