Lance Michael Martinez was born Aug. 1, 1990, at St. Joseph's Hospital, Del Norte, Colo., to Marvin and Jill Martinez.
Lance grew up living the small-town life in Del Norte, Colo., riding bikes, playing with friends and cousins, swimming, campouts in the yard, and enjoying rec sports. At an early age, Lance developed a deep love for fishing and hunting. He would often spend days on end fishing the small mountain creeks of Bennett and Burro Creek south of Del Norte with his father, brother, cousins or anyone who would accompany him. His dad would often refer to Lance's shooting ability as "one shot and done".
Being the younger brother, Lance's competitive spirit quickly evolved as he never wanted to be left out or considered too young. As his sisters came into the picture, Lance now found himself as an older sibling and he basked in the moments, caring for and harassing his younger sisters.
His passion for competitive sports began with his older brother Lucas during flag football competition. In fact, as he was running the ball the other team grabbed onto his pull off sweat tops and ripped them off, never touching the flag around his waist allowing him to score a touchdown. He played youth soccer, basketball, wrestling, baseball, football, and any sport that allowed him to be competitive. In high school he excelled both in sports and academics and was always known for his joking nature with his friends, family and peers.
Lance enrolled in Redstone College of Aviation and received an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanical Certificate. His aviation career took Lance to Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington and lastly New Mexico where he travelled throughout the west with a 10 Tanker Air Carrier responding to wildfires including a stint in Chile.
Lance met the love of his life and married Kassidy Jones, now Martinez. Knowing the importance of family, the two decided to move back to Del Norte, Colo., as they were expecting their first child, Adley Rhea Martinez. Lance's love for the mountains and his family grew deeper as did his roots in the community as he continued his life in the San Juan mountains. Archery, hunting elk and deer, fly fishing, rafting, camping, golfing and simply relaxing with his family was where you would find Lance.
The next chapter in his life led to working with his older brother and cousin, as a Carpenter. Lance used his attention to detail and patience and quickly became a skilled craftsman helping many throughout the community with his genuine love for helping others. After the arrival of their second child Aria Rain Martinez, Lance and Kassidy were fortunate enough to start construction on their new home in Old Woman's Creek. His spirit of giving, joking and quoting movie lines was his natural character and anyone in his family besides his little sister could parallel his depth of quick-witted nature. He was a true warrior, a man among boys and his elegance and grace will be remembered by everyone who knew him.
He left this world on May 5, 2025, in a tragic vehicle accident and was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Silviano Martin Martinez, and Larry Phil Schuman, his grandmother Dolores Josephine Martinez, and his Uncles Gilbert Garcia and Steven Martinez.
He is survived by his wife, Kassidy Martinez and two daughters, his parents Marvin and Jill Martinez, and his three siblings, Lucas Martinez (Marlayna, and two kids), Kaitlin Bradshaw (Luke), Kathleen Bell (Hayden, and son).
A Memorial Service will be held in Del Norte on Saturday, May 17, at 10 a.m. in the Upper Rio Grande High School Gymnasium. There will be a luncheon served following the service. To express condolences, please visit www.mvmortuary.com.
Arrangements are in the compassionate care of Mountain Valley Mortuary.
