HAROLD MARTIN Obituary

Harry was a quite a character. He loved his family very much and would tell me about his daughters and grandson and how proud of them he was.

This is what I read at his memorial today:

For those who don´t know me, my name is Alex, and I am Jana´s husband. Harry was my father-in-law, and I want to share a few of my recollections of him. I should start off by saying that you are lucky that I can´t carry a tune, because if I could, I would sing a verse or two of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady".

For anyone who did not know Harry, the idea of breaking into a Marx Brothers tune at a memorial service might seem inappropriate. Those who knew him will understand.

That quality of his - the ability to be an incorrigible smart aleck - is something that I always appreciated. That was one of the many things that I really enjoyed about his company, and I guess the same must be true for many of you.

But the thing about Harry was: He was always laughing with, and NEVER laughing at. And he laughed at himself most of all.

He just had that ability to say things that not many people can carry off, and still have their listener laugh. When he heard my mother´s southern accent, he invariably addressed her from then on as Scarlet. Often, when Jana was on the phone with Harry, I would ask her to send him my regards. His usual reply? "Send them back."


But it was not only his near-incessant wit that was so appealing. Harry was a walking history book. He and I spent a lot of time talking about World War 2, about Japan (where he and I had both lived, albeit four decades apart), and about his adventures in Korea. He always downplayed his involvement in the wars. Once I asked him if he wasn´t afraid of Kamikazes when his ship was sitting there off the coast of Okinawa. "Nah," he said, "they were mostly after the big capital ships, and they weren´t really interested in us." And when I had questions about firefights in Korea: "Well, I saw a few shoot-em-ups now and then. Nothing too big." He made it all sound as if all of this was really no big thing. It was just not his style to talk up these accomplishments. Anyway, conversations like this would often end with him breaking into a chorus of "Goodbye Mama, I´m off to Yokohama." (And by the way, this always seemed more likely to happen if we were somewhere in public, like a restaurant. He was indeed a character.)

I miss you Harry. And wherever you are, I send you my best regards. As I usually do when I think of you, I smile. And I can hear you say, "Send them back."

1/27/24

Harry and I went to work for Polaroid in Cambridge, Mass. at about the same time when it was THE hot company. We bonded very quickly as the local yokels in our PR department seemed to resent us New Yorkers. To both of us, it was like working in a foreign outpost ... and we were anxious to get back to New York. I think I lasted there for a shorter time than Harry. We maintained our frienship when we made it back to New York...He was truly the sweetest man I ever met.

I met Harry about 6 years ago through his daughter Jana. He was one of the warmest, funniest man- with a very dry, ironic kind of humor. A very empathetic, compassionate engaging man. A "manly" presence with just the right balance of vulnerability and sensitivity . The world has been made so much better by his presence.