Roll Call Tribute

Dr. James Rod Martin 
March 22, 1929 ~ April 30, 2023 

Rod Martin passed away on April 30, 2023. Graveside services are scheduled for 11:00 am, Saturday, May 13, 2023, at College Station Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of your choice.

Rod was born on March 22, 1929, in West Columbia, Texas to Roderick Hendricks and Ora Hagemeier Martin.

After graduating from West Columbia High School in 1947, he attended college his freshman year at Texas Tech University and then transferred to Texas A&M University. Before completing his degree, he served as Communications Technician Second Class in the Navy with NAVCOM in Yokosuka, Japan and NSA in Washington, D.C. during the Korean War. Following his service, he returned to college earning a Bachelor of Science (1956) and Master of Science (1957) in Agriculture Economics at Texas A&M University and Ph.D. in Agriculture Economics at Oklahoma State University in 1966.

He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture initially in the Farm Economics Research Division of the Agriculture Research Service in College Station, Texas from 1957 to 1961 then in the Economic Research Service at Stillwater, Oklahoma, from 1961 to 1964 and College Station from 1965 to 1979. After retiring from the USDA, he joined the faculty of the Department of Agriculture Economics at Texas A&M University where he taught farm and ranch management and continued his research with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station until he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1989.

Rod fell immediately in love with Frances Davis upon meeting her as she was sprawled out on the living room floor tearing apart and fixing a record player when he was picking up her roommate on a date. They were married a year later on June 5, 1955. A long term member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station, Rod loved the outdoors, especially fishing, boating, camping, and hunting. On family trips to the Texas coast, he usually spent more time baiting hooks and tending lines for the grandkids rather than fishing himself. A member of the Lions Club, he volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, was an avid fan of Aggie athletics, and worked with Frances on the family genealogy.

Rod is survived by his wife of 67 years Frances, his son Gerald “Jerry”, daughter Minette and son-in-law Lon Heuer, grandsons Lon and James Heuer, granddaughter Betty and her husband Travis Scruggs and great granddaughters June and Lily Scruggs.

Services are in the care of Callaway-Jones Funeral Center in Bryan College Station Texas.

Express condolences at www.CallawayJones.com