Martin Alma Lunt

Martin Alma Lunt, 86, crossed over peacefully at home on September 6, 2020. He was born on May 14, 1934 in Miami, AZ., the fourth child of Sabra Jacobson and Sylvan Lunt.

Dad spent all his growing up years in Miami, roaming the hills having lots of adventures with his friends and brothers.   He loved the desert and shared many stories. His family often went swimming in Salt River at the black bridge (a favorite at the east end of Roosevelt Lake). They had cookouts and there were some nice rocks to jump from into the water. During his youth he learned the value of hard work, and this was a defining trait that continued throughout his life.  He graduated from Miami High School in 1952.

In 1957 he met Shirley Lee Walker while he was stationed at Naval Air Station El Centro. On March 15, 1958 they were married in Henderson, NV. In March 1959 they were sealed in the LDS Temple in Mesa, AZ. They had two children, Crystal Lunt and Aaron Lunt.

In 1964 Martin’s family moved to Newport, RI where he attended Navy Officer Candidate School. After OCS, their naval stations included Albuquerque, Paramount, Long Beach, Pueblo, San Diego, and Boise. He served honorably for 20 years (plus 4 years as a volunteer during and after high school) and retired from the Navy in August 1980 and has been in Boise ever since.

Martin earned an A.A. from Imperial Valley College, a B.A. from San Diego State University (Elementary Education), and an M.A. from Boise State University (Curriculum & Instruction and Reading Education).

Martin was actively involved in the LDS Church throughout his life, fulfilling several callings that include word clerk (for decades), Sunday school president, home teaching, a steak mission, Temple work, and singing in the church choir. Dad also sang in the production “Hymns of Thanksgiving” for many years. He enjoyed genealogy work, was proud of his heritage, and had a great love for his ancestors.

He loved to build things and work with his hands.  He always had a project going, could fix anything, and took pride in his work. He prepared many media for Shirley’s paintings. A favorite hobby was building beautiful guitars and ukuleles from the exotic woods he collected from all over the world. He also enjoyed poetry and had many poems memorized that he recited to his family; two examples were A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Fog by Carl Sandburg. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran was another favorite. Martin wrote his own poetry at times, like this one about an August evening after a light rain fell and made the air refreshingly cool; “I got in a chair and smelled and felt the air come in on a breeze through the living room window. The air was rough as it passed on by and I closed the window on the fly. In the cool of the evening – Mr. Skunk was passing by!”

Martin was a loving and faithful husband to Shirley, and cared for her throughout her many health challenges. He never gave up on her. He loved and cared for his children with the same dedication.

He is survived by his daughter Crystal Lunt of San Diego, CA, son Aaron (Carol) Lunt of Nampa, ID, grandchildren Rachel Lunt and Austin Lunt, brothers Gerald Lunt and Roger Lunt. He is preceded in death by his wife, parents, sister Virginia Nicoson, brothers Lawrence Lunt and Stanley Lunt.

Martin was a kind and generous man who we all loved, he will be greatly missed.

We would like to express special thanks to Dad’s aid and friend, Larry Holt.  He helped brighten Dad’s days.

A visitation will be held Sunday, September 13, 2020, from 4:00-6:00pm, at Relyea Funeral Chapel, 318 N. Latah St., Boise. Graveside services will be held Thursday, September 17, 2020, 10:00am, at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

A Psalm of Life
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
   Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
   And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
   And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
   Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
   Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
   Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
   And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
   Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
   In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
   Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
   Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
   Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
   We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
   Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
   Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
   Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
   With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
   Learn to labor and to wait.



Fog
By Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.