Donald G. Martin, Sr., 85, of Dyersburg, passed away on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at Dyersburg Manor Nursing Center.

As a teenager, he worked with a crew that traveled with the wheat harvest in the Great Plains. While in high school in Dover, Arkansas, he drove a school bus and was a star basketball player. After graduating from high school, he drove a lumber truck for a short time. Then he found his passion in heavy construction mostly with concrete work. Near Whitney, Texas, he worked to build bridges to cross a lake that was being built. He helped build Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River near Yankton, SD, where he met his wife while shopping at JC Penney for a birthday gift for his sister.

Donald ran a concrete plant and developed faster methods to provide concrete to build part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. While in Ft. Gains, Georgia he helped build a lock and dam on the Chattahoochee River. Then on to Wilmington, Ohio to build runways for an Air Force Base. Next stop was Niagara Falls, NY to build water intakes from the Niagara River for New York City. After a few months of brutally cold weather, they moved to Southern California where he ran the concrete operations to build a nuclear power plant at San Onofre. He improved methods for mixing concrete and proposed improvements to mixer trucks that is in use today.

Back to Texas to build a dam that formed Toledo Bend Lake near Burkeville, TX, at 185,000 acres, it's the 5th largest man-made lake in the USA. On to Fort Smith, Arkansas to build a lock and dam on the Arkansas River near Spiro, OK. Then to Dyersburg, Tennessee to build I-155 bridge over the Mississippi River where he lost his right arm in a construction accident. Donald spent some time unemployed after the accident and then landed a job at Dyersburg Fabrics. He quickly worked his way up to supervision. Along with supervising his shift, he designed and modified equipment to increase production, reduced cost and made things better for his coworkers. After retiring from the mill, he worked part time at Homestead Hardware Store, did lawn mower repair from his home shop and enjoyed developing tools and fixtures to making things run and work better.

He was a member of Church Grove Baptist Church, Newbern, TN. He taught his sons how to play ball, fish, weld, fix and build about anything.

A 3 p.m. visitation and 4 p.m. service to celebrate Donald's life will be held December 5 in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home, Dyersburg, TN. The family has asked instead of flowers, to make a donation to the American Lung Association, American Heart Association or to the American Cancer Society.

Survivors include his son, Don, Jr. and wife, June, of Newbern, TN; a granddaughter Casey Ledbetter and husband, Bill, of Union City; and son Dan of Moore, S.C.; along with a sister, Betty Sue Taylor of Lakeside Village, TX.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Rose Marie Martin; and his parents, James Carson "Shorty" Martin and Bertha Taylor Martin.