Troy Franklin Martin, 82, former publisher of The Canyon News, died Friday, August 18 in Amarillo. Memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, August 21, 2006 at the First Baptist Church in Canyon with the Rev. Dr. David Lowrie, officiating. The family will have a private interment at Dreamland Cemetery prior to the memorial service under the direction of Brooks Funeral Directors. Troy was born to Charlie Pearl and Ida Roberta Hamlin Martin September 10, 1923 in Oklahoma, but his family moved to Texas in a covered wagon by the time he was 1. He was preceded in death by his four brothers and a sister (he was fourth): John, Homer, C.P., Louise, and Jim (who also lived in Canyon). He married Alice Carr in 1979. He attended elementary and middle school mainly in Turkey, Texas. He graduated from Morton High School in 1941 and immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He served in WWII as an air controller in North Africa. After Japan surrendered, he was transferred to duty at the embassy in Ankara, Turkey. He was discharged as a Corporal. He attended Texas Tech, but soon went to work for the Borger News-Herald as a police beat reporter. From there he was hired as sports editor for the Lawton Morning Press. He got his most valuable training at the Amarillo Globe-News from 1948 to 1952 with legendary journalists Gene Howe, Tommy Thompson, Fred Post, David Rasco, and Wes Izzard. In 1952, Martin bought the Olton Enterprise. He knew how to run all the machinery etc. so he could have put out a paper by himself. He purchased The Canyon News in 1960 and was publisher until he sold the paper and retired in 1984. He was one of the pioneers in offset printing With Southwest Offset, a joint venture with other Panhandle newspapers. His newspapers frequently won regional and state awards for excellence. He is a past president of the Panhandle Press Association and was a board member for the Texas Press Association. He was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association Hall of Fame in 1995. Martin was a strong advocate for open government, which oftentimes put him in an adversarial position with local, state and even with branches of the United States governments at times in his career. He was very interested in government on all levels and had the opportunity to cover and meet political figures including: Preston Smith, President Ronal Reagan, President Lyndon Johnson at his ranch; General Dwight Eisenhower at the dedication of Cannon AFB and Lady Bird Johnson during her beautification campaign. Martin was a community supporter and worked for the betterment of Canyon, Randall County and West Texas A&M University (WTSU at the time). He was also active in the non-profit organizations that supported the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum and the Texas Musical Drama. Martin established Staked Plains Press in the mid-1970s and he and Alice continued to run it and the Canyon Directories after they retired from the newspaper business. He fully retired in 1993. He was an avid gardener and shared an abundance of homegrown fruits and vegetables with family and friends. He also loved to play cards, especially gin rummy, and he loved to tell stories. He was passionate about his wife Alice and children: James Martin of Corinth; daughter Joan Thomson of Jakarta, Indonesia; Kaysee River, Carrollton, Texas; Rob Standley, Canyon; Tim Martin, The Colony; Donna Swinney, San Antonio; Karen Dillehay, Canyon, and Amy Trela of Corinth. He had 13 grandchildren, one of whom preceded him in death, and a new great-grandchild. The family requests memorials be sent to the Troy F. Martin Scholarship Fund in care of West Texas A & M Foundation; Box 60766, Canyon, Texas 79016-0001.