Obituary for Scott Christian Martin

Scott Christian “Chris” Martin
Resident of San Diego
January 1, 1961 – April 19, 2021

Scott Christian Martin, age 60, died in his sleep, surrounded by family and close friends on Monday, April 19, 2021 after a brief time in hospice care.

Scott, known throughout his life as Chris, was born to Cary and Maria Martin on New Year’s Day in Fort Knox, KY. He and his family spent his early years moving around the United States while his father served as a U.S. Army officer. When Chris was seven, he and his family spent an adventurous 18 months living in Panama. One of many fond memories during that time was of Chris’ absolute thrill at hacking his way through the nearby banana forest. After Panama, his family returned to the States where they lived in San Francisco and set up roots in San Rafael. Chris attended grade school at Dixie Elementary, then went to Miller Creek Middle School, and graduated from Terra Linda High School. While in high school, Chris played football, ran track, and focused his attention on his classwork and friends. He went on to college at U.C. Davis and earned a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) degree in Mechanical Engineering and was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity along with many of his lifelong high school friends.

Soon after graduation, Chris joined the U.S. Navy, attended Officer Candidate School, attended flight school and graduated as a naval aviator. Chris was stationed at Corpus Christi, TX and then at Miramar, San Diego, CA. Chris was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and instructor at the Tomcat Strike Fighter Weapons School. During his 12 years of active and reserve duty, he spent combat time during the Persian Gulf War as a fighter jet pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Chris rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the navy and was known in the aviator community by the call sign “Zone”.

During his time in the service, Chris was married to Robyn Tocco and they had two wonderful children, Destinee and Chance.

When Chris left the U.S. Navy, he joined United Airlines as a pilot of the Airbus 320, rising to the rank of Captain and serving as a Federal Flight Deck Officer during a 11-year career. He was in the air during 9/11, getting the distress calls and landing his passengers safely in Denver, CO.

After Chris’ career at United Airlines, he worked as a program manager on unmanned aircraft projects with General Atomics. During the later part of his 8 years with General Atomics he started to struggle with memory issues. Over the following years, it became clear there was a progressive cognitive decline that presented a multitude of challenges. His partner Tammy Wilson and her daughter Brittany Smith provided care for Chris until late 2020 when he was moved to Nazareth Agua Caliente Villa, an assisted living facility, in Sonoma, CA.

In the late stages of dementia, he was surrounded by his family and close friends when he succumbed to the disease. His brain was donated to Mayo Clinic and its early dementia study, to help others facing a similar fate.

Chris is survived by his father, Cary Martin, brothers Bill and Blake Martin, his daughter Destinee Ito and son Chance Martin along with their families, loving aunts, cousins and many awesome long-term friends. Chris was preceded in death by his loving mother, Maria Martin.

Chris will be interred at the Veterans Administration Cemetery in Dixon, California, near Sacramento.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests charitable contributions be made in memory of Scott Christian Martin, to the Brain Support Network, P.O Box 7264, Menlo Park, CA 94026 │ www.brainsupportnetwork.org.