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New adventure for Doc

Martins leaving Marshall after 40 years of community involvement

Photo by Jim Muchlinski Longtime resident Dr. Paul Martin, seen here with Lyon County Historical Society Museum Executive Director Jennifer Andries, is known for his community involvement. After more than 40 years in Marshall, Martin and his wife, Carole, have moved to Omaha, Nebraska.

MARSHALL — Dr. C. Paul Martin and his wife, Carole, have made a big change.

After more than 40 years as Marshall residents, the Martins moved to Omaha, Neb., to be closer to their two youngest grandchildren. Their youngest daughter, Amy, and her husband have 3-year-old twins.

“She’s been sending us pictures of houses ever since the twins were born,” Paul said. “We didn’t get to spend time with our three older grandchildren because they were overseas. This is a chance to regularly see the young ones. They don’t need us, but it will be nice to have some of our family around.”

They chose to buy a twin home unit in Omaha. Their Marshall home on A Street in the Morningside Heights area sold shortly after going on the market.

Carole is originally from Marshall. Paul and his family lived in the Chicago area before moving to the Twin Cities. He attended Minneapolis Southwest High and then the University of St. Thomas. He and Carole met as college students since she attended St. Catherine’s University.

After medical school at the University of Minnesota from 1962 until 1966, he entered the military a year after American ground troops began to arrive in Vietnam.

“We’d heard that every doctor who graduates from medical school would be drafted, so I joined,” Martin said. “They stationed me in Italy because I had foreign language skills.”

In addition to daily internal medicine practice, Martin presented information to priests about birth control, which in the late 1960s was a controversial issue in the Roman Catholic Church. He researched the impacts of chemical warfare. He also took trips on the world-famous train known as the Orient Express to travel between northern Italy and Belgrade, which was at the time the capital of the former Yugoslavia.

After his discharge, he completed a three-year internship in California. Then came the time to search for a location to practice. They had about 100 invitations to visit hospitals and after careful consideration chose Marshall.

“Before we visited, Carole described it to me as a nice small town,” Paul said. “When we got here she said it had really changed. It had a four-year college, a nearly new high school, a new hospital addition, and two new medical clinics.”

Besides those amenities, he was impressed by the doctors he’d have the opportunity to work with.

“They were very progressive,” he said. “They were open to change. They knew Marshall was growing and changing, and they wanted to be part of that process.”

He added that he fit in with the rest of the staff from the very beginning and had a challenging yet manageable workload.

“The two biggest difficulties a doctor can face are being under-utilized or over-utilized,” Paul said. “In Marshall it was always just right. It was by far the best choice we could have made for ourselves and our kids. If I began my career in 2018 I’m sure we’d choose Marshall again.”

They raised three children. Their son, Tom, spent part of his career in Europe and is now based in Virginia as an international accountant with Price Waterhouse. Their daughter, Jennifer, lives in Vail, Colo., and is a physical therapist. Amy teaches first grade in Omaha.

Marshall began to expand its staff of physicians after having only eight when Martin was hired. The partnership with Affiliated Community Medical Centers, launched in 1987, further expanded local access to medical care.

Paul is well known as a fan of the Marshall City Band who would always bring his lawn chair to the front and center of the seating area. He is also the city’s foremost Sherlock Holmes fan. He’d wear his Sherlock Holmes cap on the football sidelines while working as the attending physician.

His community involvement included a radio show called “Dr. Dialogue” and a newspaper column. The show which he provided with broadcaster Jerry Marquardt, earned him the state physician communicator of the year award in 1996 from the Minnesota Medical Association.

He served on the library board, led bus tours for the county museum, consulted on the museum’s recent medical history exhibit, and taught at events such as Senior College and the youth Summer Talents Academy.

He said they will both look for similar ways to be involved in the Omaha area.

“Neither of us will have any difficulty staying active,” Paul said. “One of my new neighbors has already invited me to become involved in the library.”

Carole worked as an ice cream taste tester for Schwan’s and then as adjunct English professor at Southwest Minnesota State University. She helped to start a long-running book club and has given cake decorating lessons and demonstrations.

“Marshall has been a great location for us,” she said. “Of all the advantages, I think the greatest is the people. They’ve always been kind, caring and gracious.”

She said the family factor was the only catalyst in their decision to move.

“It all came down to the opportunity to play more of a role as grandparents,” Carole said. “If they’d lived closer to Marshall, we probably would have stayed.”

She said they approached the moving process with confidence rather apprehension.

“We lived in a variety of places earlier in our lives,” she said. “They all had good things to offer. This is another new adventure.”

Lyon County Museum Director Jennifer Andries said the community involvement and enthusiasm shown by Paul and Carole is much appreciated.

“Marshall is losing two of its best supporters,” Andries said. “They were interested in everything. We’ll definitely miss them.”

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