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Charlie Martin, one of the pillars of the Bartlesville community, will be celebrating his 100th Birthday with a drive-by parade on Wednesday, July 8th at 4:30 p.m. at Green Country Village.

Mr. Martin and his wife, Mary, who will be 100 in the fall, both reside at Green Country Village. Below is an article written by Charlie and Mary's son, Stephen Martin:

Mary Lloyd Staats was the daughter of Carl Wendell and Edna (Kelly) Staats. Mary grew up in and around Bartlesville, and graduated from Central High School in Bartlesville in 1938. She graduated from William Woods College in 1940, and from the University of Arkansas in 1944.

Charles J. Martin, known as "Charlie," was born to Roy M. and Cumilla (Baldridge) Martin at Quitman, Arkansas on July 8th, 1920. Charlie grew up in Arkansas and attended the University of Arkansas, until he left for aviation training with the U.S. Army Air Corps just before the war.

While Charlie and Mary were attending the university, a friend took Mary to the airfield in Fayetteville to meet someone she thought Mary might find interesting. Indeed, Mary did meet a man she found interesting, but it wasn't the intended person. It was Charlie Martin, a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and a French horn player in the Arkansas band. She and Charlie then began a romance that culminated in marriage on April 24th, 1942, shortly after Charlie began his active duty service as a newly commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Charlie and Mary lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Charlie was an aerial gunnery pilot instructor. Later, Charlie was transferred overseas to serve in the China, Burma, India Theater, flying cargo planes over the Himalayas, supporting forces fighting the war against Japan. Pilots, who flew these very dangerous missions, later became known as "hump pilots." After Charlie's discharge from the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1945, he moved to Bartlesville with his wife. Charlie then went to work for Carl Staats as an independent oil production business, and later as a cattle rancher.

Charlie and Mary acquired several oil leases of their own and after thirteen years, they changed their interest to operating the Staats Ranch near Sedan, Kansas, while retaining their oil producing properties. They were active in the Hereford breeding programs, attended world Hereford conferences in Uruguay, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa. Mary was president of the American Hereford Auxiliary in 1985, and Charlie was president of the American Hereford Association in 1989. They continued living in Bartlesville, while Charlie commuted to his ranch job in Kansas.

They sold their ranch to Bill Kurtis in 1998, and their oil production in 2002. Charlie and Mary had three sons: Charles J. Martin, Jr., Stephen Carl Martin, Robert Lloyd Martin. All three sons graduated from College High School and various colleges in Oklahoma.

Charles J. Martin, Jr. was killed on Sept. 6th, 1980, in the crash of the airplane he was piloting over the ranch where he was the ranch manager. Stephen Martin was representing Washington County in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and Robert was operating the oil leases which he bought from Charles and Mary in 2002. Several grandchildren call Charlie, "Grandfather," and Mary, "Grandmother."

At the age of 84, Charlie graduated from the University of Arkansas. This took place in 2005. Charlie had left the University of Arkansas a few hours short of a degree in 1941 to join the U.S. Army Air Corps.