Martin Garry

A memorial service is 3:30 p.m. Saturday at High Sierra Fellowship for Minden resident Martin Garry, 81, who died Oct. 8, 2010, at home.

Born March 21, 1929, in San Francisco, the family moved to East Los Angeles shortly after he was born.

Following his graduation from Polytechnic High School, he joined the U.S. Air Force where he became an airplane mechanic and was the Air Force powerlifting champion in 1951.

He was stationed in England and in Holland, where he met his wife Paulina. After a six-month courtship they were married. Their first daughter was born in 1956.

While in the Air Force, Mr. Garry earned a degree in economics from the University of Nebraska.

He retired after 20 years in the Air Force. He then moved to Southern California were he worked as a stock broker. He bought a home in the San Fernando Valley. Along the way he continued to power lift. He holds 10 world records in three different weight classes, seven after he was 70 years old.

Mr. Garry retired from his second career in 1988 and moved to Nevada in 1992 to be closer to his children.

He would do squats with up to 750 pounds on the bar. At age 79, he won the U.S. Nationals of powerlifting, earning an authentic samurai sword.

He was known in the Valley when he started a disc jockey and karaoke business in Gardnerville with his daughter.