Samuel O. Martin

Samuel Oliver Martin, Jr., 70, died Saturday, February 4, 2023, at National Health Care of Clinton, South Carolina. For approximately two weeks, until February 3, 2023, he had previously been a patient at Newberry County Memorial Hospital. He died of mantle cell lymphoma.

A graveside service will be conducted on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 3:00 pm at Evergreen Cemetery in downtown Summerton, One Larry King, Jr. Highway, Summerton, SC 29148.

Mr. Martin was born on Novemeber 12, 1952, in Manning, SC. Reared primarily in Summerton, he was the son of Samuel O. Martin and Gwendolyn Coskrey Martin. Sam was seven years old when his mother died in 1959, and was ten years old when his father died in 1962. Thereafter, he resided in the home with his stepmother, and then with family friends in Summerton and Manning. He played varsity football and baseball in Manning High School from which he graduated. He began living with his now deceased older sister, Gwendolyn Martin Yearly, in Wise, Virginia, where he enrolled in Clinch Valley College, now the University of Virginia at Wise. He relocated to Greenwood, SC, where he attended Lander University.

As a teenager, Sam was employed by C.N. Martin Logging, later Martin Brothers Logging of Summerton, harvesting timber throughout Eastern South Carolina. After his student days at Lander, he began working as a pipe fitter for Daniel Construction Company of Greenville, later Fluor Corporation, where he was employed for more than a decade throughout the 1980's.

He worked primarily at refinery construction sites and at nuclear power construction sites. His first location with Daniel was in Charleston, SC, after which he spent two years at a site in Evanston, Wyoming. Thereafter, he worked at many construction sites, including sites in Rumford, Maine; in New Jersey; at the Wolfe Creek nuclear power site near Emporia, Kansas; at the H.B. Robinson nuclear power site near Hartsville, SC; and at the V.C. Summer nuclear power site near Jenkinsville, SC.

In the early 1990's, Sam Martin worked briefly for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and then returned to college at South Carolina State University. In advance of the 1990 political election cycle, he began Martin Communications to provide consultant services to political candidates, including erecting campaign signs for candidates. Although he was personally a strong Democrat, he represented both Republicans and Democrats, and strictly adhered to the commitment that he represented only one candidate in any specific political race. In 1990, he acquired his first major statewide client and conducted a sign campaign throughout South Carolina, with four feet by eight feet political signs for Republican candidate for Secretary of State Jim Miles who defeated the incumbent Democrat John Campbell. In 1994, Martin was a consultant and conducted a sign campaign for Comptroller General Earle Morris, who was the only statewide Democratic candidate to win that year. In 1996, Martin was a consultant to U.S. Senate candidate Elliott Close and conducted a statewide sign campaign for him. Close was narrowly defeated by incumbent Senator Strom Thurmond. Martin was a long term officer of the Newberry County Democratic Party, currently serving as second vice chair.

Martin also conducted statewide sign campaigns for a host of other statewide candidates, as well as for many local candidates for the State Senate and the State House of Representatives.

Martin is survived by is favorite first cousin, Sherry Martin Stewart of Summerton, and also a host of other cousins of Summerton.

Sam Martin would like to thank Dr. Carroll Pinner for his dedicated interest in providing him medical care for his health problems during the past years, Dr. Alan Paysinger, and Dr. Steven Madden for their medical care and treatment during Mr. Martin's stay in the Newberry Hospital.

Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society, 113 Mills Avenue, Greenville, SC 29605 or to the charity of one's choice.