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Weekly 150: Harold Ross Martin

Friend, Mentor, Role Model

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Harold Ross Martin was born December 11, 1929, to Luther Lee (1889–1961) and Mossie Cooper Martin (1892–1967). He was the youngest of five children; Caywood, Hazel, Kathryn and Rachael Jean.

When Ross turned fourteen, he was able to travel to Nashville and work at the railway terminal. Since his father was employed with the railroad as a mail clerk and schools didn’t keep up with absenteeism, he began working each December for the next two years.

During his junior year at McKenzie High School, Ross played tackle on the football team. His coach was the legendary Lon Varnell who brought the T formation home after a summer at the University of Kentucky. It was the same year he met his wife Martha Elizabeth “Tinsy” Fite.

As a senior, he continued playing football for the Rebels and served as team captain. After graduation, he completed a year at Draughon’s Business College in Paducah before marrying Tinsy on June 4, 1948.

As a married man, Ross started working for the Ward Coffee Company. He was expected to call on country grocery stores. His route took him from Dover to the Cumberland River, where he and other travelers were expected to ford the shallow waterways since there was no bridge at the time.

“I remember going across the river and getting stuck crossways. I had to get a tractor to pull me out,” he recalled in a 2000 interview. He later worked in the grocery business with his brother Caywood.

In 1955, he began working with Metropolitan Life Insurance as a salesman, later moving up to management. Over the years, he was awarded many honors, including being elected to the Million Dollar Round Table, a distinction for which only 3% of the world’s life insurance agents qualified each year.

While Ross worked in insurance, Tinsy was the adoring wife and homemaker with their two children, Carol and Phillip.

He was known for being civic-minded, one of his early pursuits was the establishment of the McKenzie High School Booster Club. In 1968, Ross along with J.A. Abernathy, Wilbur Headen and Kermit Holland started the program.

In 1976, he began running with two friends, Tommy Putman and Clark Brown. What started as a run around the block evolving into much more. In 1980, at the age of 50, Ross ran his first 26.2-mile marathon. Over the next five years, he ran five more marathons in Huntsville, Alabama.

“After the last one, I couldn’t run anymore. My legs just gave out on me,” he said. At his last physical exam, the doctor wanted him to return in a year for a check-up. After waiting 18 months, he scheduled an appointment citing the concern, “My energy level had started to go down.”

He was diagnosed with stage C prostate cancer. Stage D is considered the fatal stage. Although he wasn’t given a good prognosis, he immediately began undergoing treatment. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment were all employed in the fight.

He was unable to return to work and was forced to retire in 1988. But 1994, he was able to start back to work as an independent broker. Ross insisted cancer changed his life for the better, stating he appreciated things after his battle with cancer.

Ross worked to give back to the cause when he was made honorary chairman of McKenzie’s first Relay of Life campaign.

In his retirement, he stayed active. Music was a big part of his life as he played piano for the Baptist Church, off and on for over 60 years. He played golf with seniors, recording two hole-in-ones. Ross was a Rotarian, past president and Paul Harris Fellow.

Ross was known to many in the community as a friend, mentor and role model. He was a man of character, integrity and compassion. In May of 2010, Ross died and was buried alongside Tinsy, who died in 2006, at Mount Olivet Cemetery in McKenzie.