Martin H. Westlake passed away peacefully on December 24, 2023 after battling cancer for the last 4 years.
Marty was born in 1956 to Richard and Luella (Wilferling) Westlake in Itasca, Illinois, and grew up there along with his 6 siblings.
Marty worked a variety of jobs that included construction, black top paving and bartending. He turned his life around in his late 20’s, went back to school and earned a degree in Computer Technology and Repair. Marty’s Computer Technician career began with Siemens Corporation in 1995, where he worked as a General Repair Center Technician for 28 years. He relocated to his present home in Ohio in 2000. Marty was proud of his work and often spoke of how he was regularly the lead Technician in repairs without returns. Through his job in Ohio, he met several coworkers who became like his Ohio family.
Marty loved the great outdoors; his great passion was fishing, and he would take every opportunity to go “throw a line”. He started fishing the local creek in Itasca as a young boy, and enthusiastically pursued the hobby throughout his life. When he wasn’t fishing locally, he enjoyed trips to the North woods of Wisconsin, deep sea and shore fishing in Florida, fly fishing in Colorado, a trip to Costa Rica and ice fishing. Marty enjoyed fishing both as a solitary pursuit and with friends and family members, saying it was just as much fun to watch others catch a fish as to catch one himself. In addition to fishing, as a youth Marty participated in the Itasca Park District Baseball division and played tackle football with the Bloomingdale Bears. As an adult he enjoyed horseshoes and an occasional dart game.
Marty was a good brother, uncle, mentor, friend, and all-around nice guy. He had a dry sense of humor and made anybody who knew him laugh. He touched so many lives through the years and will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know him.
Left to cherish Marty’s memory are his 6 brothers and sisters: Richard (Mary), Barbara (John), Keith (Chris), Amy, Randy, and Douglas (Diana), as well as his nieces and nephews: Amanda, Don, Justin, Nicole, Taylor and Austin; and his dear friends Della, Charlie, Chuck, Connie, Mike and Scott, as well as many others. Marty was preceded in death by his parents and his nephew Beau.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a charitable contribution in his memory to the American Cancer Society (donate.cancer.org) or
Hospice of Cincinnati (hospiceofcincinnati.org/donate)
Helena Dzikowski (Heffel)
Helena