George M. Martin, Jr., age 82, died on September 15, 1999, due to complications arising from a stroke.

Inurnment will be held 3:00 pm, Saturday, September 16, 2006 at the Evergreen Cemetery.

Mr. Martin was a loving father and grandfather.

George was born May 2, 1917, in Pasadena, CA, the son of Helen McLaughlin and George Martin. Helen McLaughlin was the daughter of W.L. McLaughlin of Deadwood and Hot Springs, and George M. Martin, Sr. was the son of Eben Weaver Martin of Hot Springs.

Mr. Martin took an early interest in journalism. At Midland Preparatory School in Santa Barbara, he founded the Midland Mirror. He was also the first graduate of Midland. He later graduated from Pomona College.

He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He survived his brother, William McLaughlin who died during the war.

Martin was one of the innovators in the early days of modern broadcast journalism. After covering the tragic story of Kathy Fiscus in 1948, for the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting Service, he felt that TV could be a major breakthrough in the way people receive news. As a result, he went to work for KTTV, Los Angeles, CA in 1949 as their first news anchor. There he helped shape the content and format of TV news broadcasts.

One of his colleagues at KTTV, George Putnam, who worked with Martin starting in 1951, said of Martin that "he was one of the real legends of television news reporting… George Martin laid the very foundation for TV reporting in this community (Los Angeles)."

In the early 1950's he worked closely with the Stancil Hoffman Corporation in the development of the first portable tape recorder for use by journalists in the field.

In the mid 1950's he was the director of the Newsfilm Project of the The Fund for the Republic. There he produced the award winning film "Segregation in the South". The film vividly portrayed the grim details of what, at the time, was the largely ignored institutionalized segregation practices in the southern states.

In 1957, he accepted a position with Chronicle Broadcasting Company in San Francisco. He served as news anchor for channel 4. He, with camera man Charlie Stanyan, also produced the award winning early news magazine "Assignment 4".

After Nikita Khrushchev's visit to San Francisco in 1961, Martin accompanied Mayor George Christopher on a follow-up tour to Russia. Khrushchev was very taken with the Mayor and hosted him and his entourage to a state visit of the Kremlin and the country. This trip formed the basis for several award winning "Assignment Four" segments.

Martin returned to Los Angeles in the early 60's to work for CBS at KNX news radio. He remained at KNX for 25 years, until his retirement in 1987. He is generally credited with creating the modern traffic report, with its centralized command center, direct links to the police, highway patrol, and other highway agencies. He later expanded this format into the typical "traffic and weather together" we hear today. There he received numerous Golden Mike and other awards for broadcast journalism, and his weekly feature "George Martin Thinks", and "Citizens of the Week".

Robert Sims, former colleague and now the Director of News and Programming at KNX worked with George beginning in 1968. He said that "George always dazzles people with his versatility. There's not a job or assignment he couldn't do. And we have hallways of trophies here at KNX with his name on them that show that he didn't do just a competent job, but an exceptional one."

Martin also established Overseas News Service. Under the pseudonym of Guy Morgan he provided news and features from the United States to the 2UW network in Australia for ten years.

In 1991, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

He is survived by his daughter, Sarah C. Martin, M.D., of Napa, CA; son, William M. Martin of Boise, ID; son, George M. Martin III of San Jose, CA; step brother, Marvin Martin of Kenosha, WI; grandchildren, Jenny M. Kuykendoll; Noah E. Martin; Katie Martin-Stutzman; Larissa Martin; Rebecca E. Martin and Jeffrey M. Martin and niece, Ann Grant Martin.

Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Chapel of the Hills in Hot Spring, SD.