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Obituaries published in the December 2022 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

GARY MARTIN

SAN ANTONIO — Gary Martin, a former San Antonio Express-News reporter admired for his tenacity and perceptiveness as well as his warmth and generosity, died Nov. 10 in Las Vegas. He was 64.

Martin was a reporter, columnist and Washington correspondent for the Express-News during a 31-year career at the paper.

In 2016, he became Washington bureau chief for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

According to an obituary in the Express-News, he was in Las Vegas shortly before he died reporting on closely contested congressional and U.S. Senate races in Nevada. Colleagues said Martin spent his last day doing what he loved: covering a big political story, then unwinding afterward with coworkers and eating what he described as one of the best steaks he’d ever had.

Bruce Davidson worked with Martin as the Express-News’ political editor. The two teamed up to cover local politics and several national political conventions. Davidson said Martin had a “great personality” that helped him develop a vast network of sources. He called Martin “the hardest-working reporter I ever knew.” Martin also was humble and enjoyed mentoring young journalists.

A high point of Martin’s career was leading the team of journalists who broke the news of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death at a resort ranch in West Texas in February 2016. Martin won a Sigma Delta Chi award for the story.

During his years at the Express-News, Martin reported on the Texas Legislature, Bexar County government, the San Antonio Police Department and much of South and Central Texas, from Brownsville to Austin, before becoming a Washington correspondent.

After joining the Review-Journal, Martin covered major Washington stories, including the two impeachments of President Donald Trump and several U.S. Supreme Court nomination battles. He was also dispatched to cover national stories outside Washington, including mass shootings in Texas and Pittsburgh, Pa.

A native of Commerce City, Colorado, he attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins and earned a degree in journalism.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 40 years, Linda Martin, of Silver Spring, Maryland. Services were pending.