Abraham William Martin, 88

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Abraham William Martin, 88, of West Chester, died of complications from surgery Aug. 22 at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester.

Mr. Martin was born on Christmas Day in Minersville, Pa., where he grew up with four siblings. He enlisted in the Coast Guard on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Dec. 7, 1941.

He was accepted into the Navy's officer training program and was assigned to attend Swarthmore College. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Swarthmore and pitched on the school baseball team. He earned a master's degree in engineering from Harvard University.

Mr. Martin was with United Engineers in Philadelphia before establishing AW Martin Associates in King of Prussia in 1954. The firm designed transportation and water-resource public-works projects and engaged in commercial and residential development. In the early 1970s, AW Martin engineers designed an award-winning sanitary landfill in West Conshohocken. While heading his firm, Mr. Martin was a surveyor for Montgomery County from 1968 to 1972 and was a consulting engineer for Upper Merion Township for 25 years.

After stepping down as president of AW Martin in 1978, he was appointed county engineer for Montgomery County and later headed the county Department of Public Works. He retired in the mid-1980s.

Mr. Martin enjoyed cruising the New Jersey coastal waters on his boat, Queen Elizabeth, and playing golf and tennis.

He had been married to Elizabeth Platt Martin since 1948. They met when they were in a wedding party together.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Martin is survived by a son, William; daughters Elizabeth Guerin and Pamela Martin; a brother; two sisters; and seven grandchildren. His daughter Cheryl Franklin died in 2003.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Oct. 3 at Hershey's Mill Golf Club, 1500 Green Hill Rd., West Chester.