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The Martens family is saddened by the loss of Hans Heinrich Martens, husband to Marlene Martens and father of his two sons, Peter and Edward. A long-time resident of Cumberland County, Hans moved his family there from the Bronx, New York in 1975.

Born in Einfield, Germany near the city of Neumunster, Hans immigrated into America in 1954 after securing a work visa to allow him to enter into the United States. He lived with a family and worked on their dairy farm in upstate New York. After several years, Hans moved to New York City. There he worked with several companies to include HVAC installation and material reclamation and then his mechanical skills would land him a position with Cummings Diesel. There he performed maintenance on the diesel motors for heavy trucks and marine craft. Soon Hans found himself being called on to repair the diesel starter motors for General Electric gas turbines and after having noticed his skillset, he was then offered a position by GE.

He began to troubleshoot, repair and later install steam and gas turbines for power plants in the New York area. With continued training, he received his degree in power generation in steam, gas and later nuclear energy. In 1974, Hans accepted a field service position in GE’s Richmond office, and later moved his family to Virginia in January of 1975. He continued his good work for GE ensuring power generation was provided for much of the eastern United States. Hans retired in June of 1992, but was requested to be a part time consultant for GE, continuing to provide his expertise and service to the many power plants he helped install throughout the South for an additional five years.

In his free time, Hans enjoyed time with his family as they traveled through the beautiful state of Virginia and places as far south as Florida. He and his wife Marlene, were members of the Cumberland Ruritan Club, and helped with the fund drive to restore the historic log cabin in Cumberland County. As an avid beekeeper, Hans kept several active hives on the family farm. He and his wife enjoyed sharing and selling the honey he processed to his co-workers, friends and people in the local area. The Martens family was members of St. John’s Lutheran Church, where Marlene was actively involved until her passing in 2021. Hans also enjoyed model railroading. As the ‘Senior Engineer’ of the Silver Rail Club, he and his son, Peter, were able to set up and share their model train displays with seniors, veterans, their families, and the general public at senior homes, rail-events, and train shows throughout the state of Virginia.

Hans is survived by his sons, Peter Martens (Jenny) of Cumberland and Edward Martens (Lisa) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; four grandchildren: Jennifer, Jordan, Stephanie and Jonathan and two great grandchildren: Riley and Emmalyn.

He will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife at Grove Cemetery.

A graveside service was held on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m., at Grove Methodist Church Cemetery, RT 13 Cumberland.

Puckett Funeral Home served the family. www. puckettfh.com.