What did Lynn Martin mean to me?

His wife Marione wrote some informative and beautiful articles during his battle with cancer and his passing. The words that struck me the most were “His life mattered,” that she wrote in conclusion of her article that was in last week's Newsgram.

Lynn certainly mattered to me – he and Marione have employed me for 28 years. In May 1 will start my 29th year with the paper.

When I started in 1990 I was afraid to even touch a computer let alone write a story on it! Lynn was so patient in teaching me. Using MS-DOS, he taught me that hitting the keys Shift F8 saved a document and that became my best friend. Through the years I called Lynn to his face “my favorite computer nerd!”

In those early days he marked up my articles with red ink on a daily basis to try and teach me how to write. The two of us had some colorful editorial battles in the newspaper through the years. As a newspaper publisher, he was a stickler for being fair. I couldn't write a political editorial unless he had one to run beside it with an opposite viewpoint.

What struck me about Lynn was he was so friendly to everyone and treated me with nothing but respect. Although he had a million deadlines happening at the same time with the newspaper and photography daily, he always made the person he was working with feel special.

He had a nickname for most with his light-hearted humor. One of his favorite expressions I heard over and over when people asked Lynn how he was doing was, “a day late and a dollar short.”

Lynn was respected by so many people, locally and professionally. He won many awards for his writing, photography and more. I watched as he did so much to support the Alva community and surrounding little towns. If Alva had a major project going (for example, the Bill Johnson Correctional Center) he did everything he could to support it, report both sides and be fair. He was an ardent supporter of the public schools and NWOSU. He and Marione have always worked horrendous hours to keep their small town paper thriving.

At his service, the minister asked people to raise their hands if Lynn had ever taken their picture – most every hand raised. When asked about Lynn photographing their wedding, again the auditorium was full of raised hands. He photographed my wedding with Jeff in 1982. I always griped at him later because “Mr. Technology” didn't start videoing weddings until a few months after our wedding.

Like so many families, Lynn took our engagement pictures, did our wedding, took our daughter's pictures since she was a newborn, took our annual Christmas card pics, took the eighth grade and senior pictures, etc. What was great about Lynn is that he always made your picture session fun. So many families in this area can say the same.

Lynn is a tradition in this area – an icon. He helped and taught so many people to better themselves. He and Marione are the epitome of the American dream – start with nothing and build a respected business and a great family.

Lynn will be greatly missed. Yes, his life mattered indeed.