All the fear and shock and worldwide media attention in the aftermath of his death by a great white shark attack April 5 in Solana Beach was really quite far from the kind, quiet essence of Dave Martin.

Bit by bit, as family and friends and fellow triathletes and customers of the veterinarian who devoted 21 years to treating animals at All Creatures Animal Hospital in Del Mar, California, spoke out at a series of memorials and in various newspaper articles, a portrait emerged of a warm and gentle man who lived life in full.

Born in 1942, Martin grew up on a farm in Riverside, California, the youngest of three children. His son Jeff Martin, a 41-year-old airline pilot, told North County Times that his father raised a prizewinning steer that “paved the way for veterinary school and (a lifelong) love of animals.”

But perhaps his biggest drive to live came when he was just a boy. “My dad was an easygoing guy, kinda quiet, but he a full life right to the end,” said Jeff Martin. “When he was 10, his dad passed away at age of 49. And that influenced how he chose to live his life. He didn’t think he’d make it to 49, so he tried to get out and do as much as he could. Because he was not sure how long he’d be around.”

As a boy, he has asthma and swam to strengthen his lungs, and played water polo in high school and college. In love with sports and nature, he also embraced as many sports as possible – including fishing, skiing, and dirt biking.

But most of all, he loved the ocean and everything about it and became what old time beach lovers call a waterman. After he moved to Solana Beach in 1970, that came to include free diving, snorkeling, bodysurfing, paddle boarding surf fishing and surfing.

After obtaining his veterinary degree, he started the All Creatures Animal Hospital in Del Mar in 1986, and continued to help out local vets after he retired in 1997. He had two boys from a first marriage -- Jeff, the airline pilot who lives in Solana Beach virtually across the street from his father, and Andy Martin, 39, an electrician. Kevin, a stepson, 26, lives in Encinitas and works installing surveillance equipment. Finally, son Ben Martin, 21, and daughter Hannah Martin, 19, lived at home with Dave and attend junior college.

He took up triathlon just four years ago, said his son Jeff.” These past four years, when he added triathlon to all the other water sports he loved, were some of the happiest of his life.”
Speaking in an interview last week, after the outpouring of love and caring for his father, Jeff Martin was in a reflective mood.

“After the eulogy at the church, we got a letter from a former client of his who had been going to my dad for many years,” said Jeff. “She wrote that during a period of unemployment her dog got ill. My dad took the dog in and it needed a lot of work. Normally you would expect the bill would be well over $1,000. But when she picked her dog up, all the itemized parts were deleted and the total was just 100 bucks. He knew her situation. He knew she could not afford a big bill. We never found out about this until now. Because he was not the kind of guy who’d come home and pat himself on the back.”

Jeff remembered his dad sharing his love of nature and the ocean. “”The fond memories I have of him as child were the times he’d take us to La Jolla Cove where he took us and taught us to snorkel there. He was always into wildlife, and took us many times to the San Diego Zoo and to Sea World. He’d take us backpacking in the Sierras with our church, Cavalry Chapel.”

Jeff recalls his father introducing him to his first surfboard in a very personal way. “In fact,” said Jeff, “he made our first surfboard. My friend Steve Lunsford and I were surf buddies. His dad and my dad went down to a local surf shop and picked up urethane blanks and fiberglass and polyester resin. They took them all to Steve’s house and made them from scratch in the back yard.”

But no one water sport obsessed Dave Martin the family man. “Our whole family loved the ocean and we lived near beach,” he said. “My dad loved to snorkel and spear fish. I remember one day he caught a Corvina and some perch and brought them home to cook.”

He eased into triathlon through his love of the beach. “He loved to run barefoot in the soft sand on the beach,” said Jeff. “He came to endurance sports about 4 years ago. It was after his second divorce and he was looking for a way to deal with stress and get into back shape.”

It was tough at first, but when he turned 65 and was the youngest man in his age group, he had two great seasons. “When he hit 65, he won several sprint races in his age group, but as usual he took it in stride. Normally his girlfriend would not ask how he did, because that wasn't his style. But one day she asked and he said ‘and he said ‘Well, you know, I actually won my age group.’ He was never the type to come back and say ‘I won.’”

Eventually he drew his kids into the sport. “Last summer he pulled a hamstring and he could not do the run portion. He’d signed up for a triathlon in Solana Beach and always wanted to do it together. So we ended up doing the relay together and we ended up get second place.”

Jeff says his father would have been the last one to play into the hysteria following shark attack. “Interestingly enough, as I was going through his desk, I found an article he cut out of the San Diego Union-Tribune this January about a study of white sharks and how they migrated by here all kinds of interesting information. If it had happened to someone else, he would have approached it scientifically. He’d say ‘Yeah there was a chance something could happen – there have been 8 deaths in California history due to shark attacks. But as scary as it may sound, it’s so rare he would point out how many people in San Diego alone died on the freeway last week.”

Jeff, who returned to the ocean to surf within a week of his father’s death, thought his father would have thought of the tragedy as “just an odd occurrence. I think he’d said what a sad thing it was and he’d probably stayed out two or three days and then say ‘OK it’s time to go back in. ‘ He would say ‘It’s just one of those things.’”

Jeff told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he “took real comfort” that his father died doing what he loved. “I wasn't ready for him to go. But God had a perfect plan.” His daughter Hannah Martin read a letter she wrote to her father to a memorial service at Horizon Christian Church in nearby Rancho Santa Fe that she would miss seeing her father making breakfast after a long bike ride at “a ridiculously early hour” – and his hugs and smiles and jokes.

B&L Bike and Sports Shop owner Scott Rittschof, who hosted get together for triathletes to remember Martin, told North County Times: “The guy was doing what he loved. He was 66 years old and was out there acting like a 26-year-old. It’s awesome.”

Bob Babbitt, editor of Competitor magazine, who raced with Martin in the 50-plus crowd at local triathlons, attended a traditional surfer’s memorial service on Solana Beach on April 29, when friends paddled out wearing leis and formed a circle and one by one people came into the a circle and gave tribute to Dave Martin. “We were not mourning, but celebrating alive well-lived by a guy who was obviously well loved,” said Babbitt.

The biggest blessing of his father’s life, says Jeff Martin was that the whole family stayed very close together. “I’m oldest and live across the street and we have three boys, three grandsons with us. His granddaughter lives 15 minutes away with my brother and his wife. And Dave’s two youngest lived with him and we were all able to see him all the time.”

One of his later pleasures was flying small plane, with which he flew down family to enjoy a seaside property he rented down in the Baja peninsula.

Interestingly, Jeff Martin says a huge contingent of Dave Martin’s extensive family paid tribute to him May 4. “Mission Bay held a triathlon Sunday and all of his kids entered the triathlon,” said Jeff. “Ben and Hannah ran a relay. Andy and his wife and a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego Rob Hill did another relay. And I did the sprint and my wife Stephanie did the sprint and even his grandson Tanner, who is 9 years old, did the super sprint and won his age division and was so happy he got to take the plaque home.”