Billie O Martin, 95, of Greenfield

Graveside and Masonic Services:  Will be held on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at the Greenfield Cemetery in Greenfield, Iowa with full military graveside rites conducted by the Greenfield American Legion Head-Endres Post No. 265 and V.F.W. Post No. 5357 and Masonic Services held by the Greenfield Crusade Lodge No. 386 A.F. & A.M.  Pastor Melinda Stonebraker will officiate the service.  The Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements.  Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Open Visitation:  Friends may call at the Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield on Monday, November 21, 2022, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Family Visitation:  The family will greet friends on Monday, November 21, 2022, at the Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Memorials: May be directed to the Billie O. Martin memorial fund to be established by the family at a later date.

   Billie Ord Martin was born to Ord Burris and Elsie I. (Bush) Martin on March 9, 1927, in Greenfield, Iowa, and passed away on November 16, 2022, at the Greenfield Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Greenfield.
   Bill spent his childhood in Greenfield, and graduated from Greenfield High School in 1945, near the end of World War II.  He was drafted, as were many of his classmates, and was enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 25, 1945.  Upon completion of basic training, he was sent to Japan as part of the GHQ occupation forces in Tokyo.  After serving for 18 months and achieving the rank of Corporal Tech #5, he returned to the U.S. and was honorably discharged on January 27, 1947, at Ft. Lewis, Washington.
   Bill returned to Greenfield, and soon began working at Farmers Electric Cooperative as a purchasing agent.  Stormy nights generally found him at the office, manning the phone and radio to help coordinate the work of the linemen.  He retired in 1992 after working there for 45 years.  In 1969, Bill took a stab at Hollywood fame and fortune during the filming of the movie “Cold Turkey” in Greenfield, but unfortunately, his work as an extra in a window-shopping scene on the Greenfield Square ended up on the cutting-room floor during editing.
   One night in 1953, Bill and some friends visited a crowded Tromar Ballroom in Des Moines.  They ended up seated at a table with some other patrons, and he struck up a conversation with one young woman, Nevada Pugh of Des Moines.  After that evening, a quick exchange of letters led to a date the next weekend, and on August 12, 1954, they were married in a small ceremony at Union Park Methodist Church in Des Moines.  They honeymooned in a cabin near Lake of the Ozarks.
   The young couple settled in Greenfield, where Bill continued working at Farmers Electric, while Vada worked as a second-grade teacher, and later as a special education teacher in Greenfield and Creston.  Bill and Vada were instrumental in the formation of the Adair County Association of Retarded Children, along with the parents of other area special-needs children, which advocated for the addition of a Special Education program in the Greenfield School system.  Bill served as the president of the Association.
   In October, 1956, Bill and Vada welcomed a son, Ronald Ord, named after his two grandfathers, and in 1959, they welcomed another son, Jeffrey.
   Bill and Vada were members of the Greenfield United Methodist Church, where Bill served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for a time.  Outside of work, they enjoyed square dancing for many years, and Bill was a member of the Masonic Temple, while Vada was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.  Bill was a Master in the Masonic Lodge, Worthy Patron of the Eastern Star, and served as an adjutant at the Head-Endres post of the American Legion in Greenfield. He also served as a rescue member of the Greenfield Fire Department, and Bill and Vada were members of the Anquestors and Adair County Historical Society.
   Bill and Vada enjoyed travelling, including a trip to Thailand to visit Vada’s brother who had retired there.  That trip included a stop in Japan, where Bill had been stationed, to visit places he had known and to visit friends he had made during his time there.  They also enjoyed three cruises, in the Caribbean and to Alaska.  In August, 2009, Bill was honored to be included as a participant in one of the Iowa Honor Flights for World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., sponsored by HyVee, to visit the World War II Memorial.
   Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Nevada, in April of this year; his parents, Ord and Elsie Martin; his parents-in-law Ronald and Daphne Pugh; his sisters Marjorie, Dorothy and Thelma; brothers-in-law Ken Crabb and Jack Keller, his wife’s half-brother Don Carlisle, and his oldest son, Ronald Martin.
   He is survived by his son, Jeff Martin, of Japan; sister-in-law Bernice Keller of Seattle, Washington; brother-in-law John Galbraith of Sun City, Arizona; cousins and other relatives; and many friends.