Obituary of Kerry Dale Martin

MARTIN, Kerry D. Central Caribou Kerry Dale Martin, aged 62, of Central Caribou, Nova Scotia, passed away in the QEII Hospital in Halifax on Saturday January 6th, 2024. Kerry was born December 3, 1961 to David and Shirley (nee Tyler) Martin in Stratford, Ontario. Kerry left Stratford to attend the Haileybury School of Mines at 17 years of age in September 1979 and graduated in 1981 as a Mining Technician. Kerry’s 40-year mining career began in Elliot Lake, Ontario, and included working in mines in Canada, Greenland, Philippines, and Australia. Kerry has one son Patrick and a daughter JoAnne and has been married to Anneli (nee Lagman) since 2002. Kerry and Anneli moved to live in Manila in 2006 (though he was flying in and out every two weeks to work in Canada) before retiring and moving back to Canada in 2014. They settled in Nova Scotia where they embarked on a quest for a self-sufficiency lifestyle. This meant growing their food, raising chickens and rabbits, cutting trees for firewood, and following the 3Rs for reuse, reduce, recycle. Kerry had a heart for the impoverished and disenfranchised. He was passionate about helping teach people how to help themselves and provide them the support they needed to do so. As a volunteer and supporter of the House of Refuge Foundation in the Philippines, many orphans benefited from computers, beds, tutorials, and much more. Many of the orphans looked up to him as a father figure and are very grateful to this day for making their childhood more memorable. Kerry had a fascination and a vast knowledge of geology and mining that he was always excited to share with anyone who was within listening distance. Kerry was predeceased by his mother, Shirley (2022), and father, David (2022), and will be remembered by his wife, Anneli; son, Patrick; daughter, Joanne Cooney (James) and will be greatly missed by his grandchildren, Mera (and her mom Devon), April, Jacob, Katrina, Joshua and Kara and his brothers, Kelvin (Tanya), Kyle (Jeanette) and nephews, Ryan, Darren (Stephanie), and Kaleb. Visitation will be held at McLaren Funeral Home in Pictou on Thursday, January 11, 2024, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. A celebration of Kerry’s life will take place Saturday January 13, 2024 with a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m. in the Stella Maris Catholic Church in Pictou. Reception follows at the Church Hall on Denoon Street. As expressions of sympathy, donations will be accepted to support the House of Refuge in the Philippines.