Homepage of Jimmy and Jerry Martin

Jimmy and Jerry Martin's Homepage

This is the home of Jimmy and Jerry Martin. We live in the countryside, a few miles south of DeRidder, Louisiana USA. DeRidder is a small town of about 12,000 population, located in Beauregard Parish in Southwest Louisiana. DeRidder is the county seat of the parish (if that sounds funny, counties are called parishes here). The Beauregard Parish Library offers free limited internet service to the people of the parish. Beauregard Parish has a population of about 33,000 people. Forestry and cattle ranching are two of the largest industries in the parish. Rice and soybeans are also grown here. A large military base is located about 20 miles north of DeRidder near the town of Leesville. Many citizens of the parish work at the military base in Leesville and in the oil and chemical plants in Lake Charles, about 50 miles south of DeRidder. Boise Inc has a large pulp and papermill on the western outskirts of DeRidder. Boise produces large quantities of newsprint and linerboard, which they ship to customers in several different countries. State Highway 171 is a major traffic artery between the cities of Lake Charles in the south and Shreveport in the north of Louisiana. Louisiana is bordered on the west by the state of Texas, on the north by the state of Arkansas, on the east by the state of Mississippi and on the south by the lovely Gulf of Mexico. Baton Rouge is the state capitol. New Orleans is the home of the Super Dome sports stadium and is the most famous city in the state.

We are the parents of three daughters and grandparents of two boys and two girls. Our oldest daughter, Sherry lives north of Houston in Spring, Texas with her son Nicholas and her daughter Hannah. She is self employed. Our second daughter, Carolyn lives next door to us with her daughter Leah and her son Andrew. She teaches at South Beauregard High School. Our third daughter, Amy graduated from McNeese University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She began teaching in August of 2001 in early childhood education at K. R. Hanchey Elementary in DeRidder, and is now teaching at Fairview Elementary in Lake Charles, LA.

My wife is a full time home maker and spends a lot of time in our kitchen. Jerry is actively involved with our children and grandchildren. She enjoys cooking, sewing, painting, arts and crafts. I think she enjoys shopping too. Jerry lost all hearing in her left ear due to a failed ear operation in 1978. Her hearing in her right ear progressively worsened. In 2003 she decided to have an operation on her right ear. The operation was partially successful in restoring some hearing to her "good ear".

My wife has two sisters and two brothers. Her mother, a brother and sister live near Mobile, Alabama. One brother lives in Iron Mountain, Michigan and one sister lives in Tampa, Florida. Jerry's father (Sam Willey) died on April 1 of 2000. He was a good Samaritan of the first degree. He loved to help people.

I recently retired from Boise Inc., working for 39 years as an operator, 20 of which I spent in their Training Center. I enjoy computers and spent a considerable amount of time, at work and at home in front of a computer screen.

My brother, Wayland, sounds this good on the Bass

Learning the paper making process and interacting with the operators was interesting. I enjoyed meeting papermakers from many states, Canada, Finland, and as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

I have six brothers, three older and three younger. Two brothers live in Tennessee, one in Texas and three live on the outskirts of Mobile, Alabama. My father died in 1971 at age fifty nine of heart problems. He was a quiet man, not given to gossip or idle talk. He was very patient and considerate of others. I miss him still. My mother died on February 24th 1999 from an advanced case of Alzheimer's disease. She lived 86 years. Mother was very talkative, quite out-going, loved children and her church above everything. She had a tremendous influence upon her children. She hated tobacco and alcohol. None of her seven children smoke or drink. That is a testimony to the influence of a Christian parent. The greatest joy of my life came when I was baptized in 1979 in Beaumont, Texas. My wife was pregnant with our youngest daughter at the time. She and our other two daughters chose, of their own free will, to be baptized at the same time. After the pastor baptized me, he asked me to help baptize my wife and my two daughters. I can't imagine a greater joy for a husband and a father. It was an experience that I will forever treasure. I am a twenty year cancer survivor (malignant melanoma) and very grateful to God for these many years.

We have been foster parents to several children, from infants to teenagers. We have also hosted eight foreign exchange students in our home, beginning in 1987. We had four from France, three from Brazil and one from Quebec, Canada. We stay in touch with most of these students and their families. Some of the exchange students came for a month during the summer months. Some came for one school semester (five months). Two of the students came for an entire school year. It was a delightful experience for us, our children and our grandchildren. We love each one more than they will ever know. My wife and I plan to visit these young people and their families within the next two or three years. (We went to Brazil for three (3) wonderful weeks in January of 2000). Two of the students have made return visits, one with her mother. We arranged to host these students through two different organizations, Nacel and P.I.E. No compensation is furnished to the host families by either of these organizations, but the rewards are well worth the cost. The students do have medical coverage and their own spending money. The host family supplies shelter, food and transportation.

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