Date: Fri 14-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Doug-Martin-banking

Full Text:

Doug Martin Retires After 41 Years In Banking

(with photo)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

P. Douglass Martin considers himself lucky to be alive.

He celebrated his 64th birthday on January 25, retired from 41 years in

banking on January 31 and attended his daughter's wedding on February 1.

Just weeks before his retirement as vice president of Newtown Savings Bank,

however, Doug Martin completed a grueling five-month regime of standard and

high-dose chemotherapy for a second occurrence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He

lost 35 pounds, and all his dark, wavy hair, during the treatment.

But as he sat last week in the living room of the house on Orchard Hill Road

where he and his wife, Joy, have lived for 25 years, he was relaxed and

confident. The cancer treatment, although arduous, appears to have been

successful.

"I haven't a clue about what I'm going to do now," he said. "But we have no

plans to leave the area. We've lived in Newtown for more than 37 years - it's

our home."

Doug Martin grew up in a family that moved often, from Virginia to Arkansas,

then Texas, before coming to Connecticut.

"My father was an Episcopal minister - he married us," Mr Martin said. "My

mother grew up in China where her father was a printer, publishing a newspaper

for Presbyterian missionaries there."

As a teenager, Doug Martin left Texas to attend the South Kent School while

his parents made plans to move back East, first to Brookfield, then Monroe.

His father was minister of the Episcopal Church in Monroe and also had charge

of St. John's Church in Sandy Hook.

Mr Martin then attended Princeton University, graduating in 1954 with a

bachelor's degree in history. His first job was in New York City, working for

the Schumacher fabric company.

"A year of commuting to New York and bringing home $49 a week - after

withholding - convinced me to try something else," he said with a wry smile.

"I did construction for the summer, until it started to get cold. I knew I

wanted to do something else, so I became a banker."

He worked for Bridgeport City Trust for more than 21 years, in the firm's

commercial loan division, leaving in 1976 when he was a senior vice president.

He then became the manager of Newtown Savings Bank's Southbury branch and the

bank's assistant treasurer. During the past three years he has spent most of

his time working in the bank's trust services division.

"Newtown Savings Bank is a nice alternative to today's mega-banks," he said.

"It started in 1855 so it is really an integral part of the community."

It's almost surprising Doug Martin wound up in Newtown because he had every

intention of moving to Hawaii after college graduation. In fact, he talked

about it so much, his brother younger brother and his sister both wound up

moving there about 30 years ago.

"Hawaii wasn't a state back when I graduated from college," Mr Martin said.

"It was during the Korean War and the draft board wouldn't have looked

favorably on my moving there."

The Martins have enjoyed their share of tropical breezes, however, owning a

home on an island in the British Virgin Islands for 20 years.

"We're both Aquarians so we naturally go to the water," he explained.

Over their years in Newtown, Mr Martin earned additional banking credentials

in courses at the Williams College School of Banking, at Indiana University

and the Columbia University Graduate School of Banking.

He was chairman of the American Red Cross in Bridgeport, a director of the

Waterbury chapter of the United Way, president of both the Connecticut chapter

of the Robert Morris Association and the Bridgeport Clearing House

Association, secretary of the Newtown Zoning Board of Appeals, president and

director of the Southbury Business Association, a former member of the Danbury

and Tri-bury chapters of the Rotary Club, and, for the past 21 years, vice

president and trustee of the Jessie Ridley Foundation, which provides

scholarships to disabled students.

He was a senior warden of Trinity Episcopal Church when the top of the church

tower was rebuilt and, later, a senior deacon of the Newtown Congregational

Church. Joy, meanwhile, spent many years as the manager of Edmond Town Hall

until a rare nerve condition made walking difficult, Mr Martin said.

When the couple moved from their first house on Elm Drive to their current

house, Orchard Hill Road was a dead-end. They have seen many changes in the

neighborhood.

"People used to ride to the hounds up here - we were quite startled the first

time we heard the strange horns on a Saturday morning," Mr Martin said.

"Otherwise it was very quiet. A lot of houses have been built since then and

many more are going up. But the town really hasn't changed much. It still has

a lot of its character."

Now Mr Martin plans to enjoy retirement, doing some reading and birdwatching,

and walking for exercise. He started cooking a few years ago and, after two

trips to Spain in recent years, is impressed by the men of the Basque region -

"who are really good cooks."

But mostly he is grateful for the many friends he has made over the years, for

their support and their prayers.

"I've gained back 15 pounds of the weight I lost, and am feeling better every

day," he said. "I intend to take each day as it comes and enjoy life."