Raymond M. Martin

2000 - 2005  (5 years)

• Name	Raymond M. Martin
  Born	11 Feb 2000  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Residence	2005	RR3, Waterloo, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-167697
  Died	21 Jul 2005	London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Buried	Conestogo Old Order Mennonite Cemetery, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I167697	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Jacob M. Martin
  Mother	Mary Ann B. Martin
  Family ID	F44572	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  EVENING TAKES TRAGIC TURN Boy clings to life after being rescued from bottom of farm irrigation pond WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP (Jul 21, 2005)A five-year-old boy is in critical condition after getting in over his head in a pond on a farm north of Waterloo. Emergency crews were called out to Rolling Acres Farm, a mixed farm at 1235 Martin Creek Rd. , shortly after 7: 30 p. m. , said Sgt. Mike Hinsperger. " He and some family members were playing back there (in the pond) and by the sounds of it, the five-year-old went in the water a little further than he could touch bottom and went under," said Hinsperger. " We were called because he didn't swim. " Police are still investigating how long the boy was under water, but Deputy Chief Jim Carr of the St. Jacobs' fire station said it was 15 minutes from the time the station got the call until they pulled the boy out. " They did take him to the hospital but I guess I can say it doesn't look too good," Carr said. About 10 firefighters entered the water and one bumped into something, Carr said. He dove down, and sure enough, found the boy. The boy was in about two to three metres of clear water, said Carr. Hinsperger said the pond is about 3. 5 metres at its deepest point. Neighbour Isaac Weber said he spoke to one of the children who was playing with Martin. He identified the boy as Raymond Martin, the son of farm owner Jacob Martin, and said he was playing in an irrigation pond with his older sister and two cousins. There were no adults present, he said. Neighbour Alvin Steckle was at the farm and is friends with the boy's family. " I think you can go out for awhile, then there's a drop," said Steckle. He speculated the boy must have waded off it. There were life jackets by the pond, but the children didn't have them on because they were just wading, said Steckle. Raymond is " just an active young boy," Weber said. His distraught parents went with him to hospital, but many other friends and family members gathered at the farm as night fell. ________________________________ BOY PULLED FROM POND DIES IN HOSPITAL Tragedy haunts man who dived into water in vain search for victim LIZ MONTEIRO WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP (Jul 22, 2005) A five-year-old boy who slipped under the water of an irrigation pond on his family's Woolwich Township farm died yesterday. Raymond Martin was on life support at London Health Sciences Centre after being pulled from the pond Wednesday evening. He was pronounced dead yesterday afternoon as his parents, Jacob and Maryann Martin, stood at his bedside. Family friend Alvin Steckle said doctors removed the boy from life support at about 3 p. m. , with the consent of his family. Raymond died about 20 minutes later. A few hours earlier on Martin Creek Road in Woolwich Township, Hamid Bessai was reliving the tragedy that happened on the Martin farm. In the stifling midday heat, he stared into the murky green water of the man-made pond. Two black inner tubes floated on top of the stagnant water, and flies buzzed all around. The stench of manure from a nearby sheep and cattle barn filled the air, just as it had the night before when Bessai tried to save Raymond. The Kitchener man stood on the same spot on Rolling Acres Farm where Raymond and his young siblings and cousins liked to play. Bessai's rescue effort failed, and the boy's limp body was removed from the pond by volunteer firefighters. "They should have a fence here,'' said Bessai, who returned to the farm yesterday to inquire about the boy he couldn't stop thinking about. "This is not the sea. There are no waves. Children shouldn't die here. It's terrible." Just after supper on Wednesday, Raymond, Eva and two cousins, who are eight and 10 years old, went to the pond to play. As she had many times before, Maryann Martin warned the children to be careful and to stay in the shallow area of the pond. " Their parents gave them permission to wade,'' said Raymond's aunt, Minerva Martin. " They usually wore their life jackets but they didn't this time. " Firefighters later found the lifejackets on the grass near the water. Bessai was at the farm that evening to buy eggs. He had been there before, during strawberry-picking season, and had seen Raymond on the farm. As he waited to pay for his eggs, Bessai noticed a young girl running frantically towards the farmhouse. The young girl's clothes were all wet. She spoke to her mother in a German dialect, and the pair ran to the pond behind some trees. Bessai followed and found a young, shaking boy staring at the water. The boy said another boy was in the water. Bessie, whose youngest son is the same age as Raymond, took off his watch, pulled his wallet from his pocket and plunged into the murky water. Bessai's wife called 911 on her cellphone. Maryann ran to get her husband, Jacob, who was operating a tractor on a field nearby. " I was diving and looking for him but I couldn't see anything,'' Bessai said. Before moving to Canada seven years ago, Bessai had served in the Algerian army and had learned to react quickly to emergencies. Soon after Jacob arrived, took of his clothes off and joined the search. But neither man could find Raymond. Bessai said the children at the edge of the water smiled and looked pleased when they saw him resurface after his first dive. " I tried to look for bubbles of air but nothing," Bessai said. " I could do nothing. " None of the four children who were playing in the water knew how to swim, said neighbour and family friend Selina Martin. A 911 call came in to firefighters at 7: 41 p. m. and, 16 minutes later, the child was pulled from the water. St. Jacobs fire Chief Clare Weber said volunteer firefighters formed a line and slowly walked through the water, standing an arm's-length apart. They moved their feet back and forth as they waded in, trying to find the boy. The spring-fed pond, about 75 metres (250 feet) in diameter, is shallow around the edges but gets deeper in the middle. In the core of the pond, it's nearly four metres (12 feet) deep, said Weber. " We couldn't see. The water was dark and murky,'' he said. " We were fortunate to find him before we got too deep. '' Yesterday, family members were at the hospital with Raymond. Jacob and Maryann came home briefly late Wednesday night to pick up seven-month-old Dorcas, who is still breastfeeding. They didn't go to bed, but drove back to be at Raymond's side instead. " Things like this happen. We don't know why,'' neighbour Selina Martin said as she watched over the family raspberry-picking business. A crowd of about 20 black-clad family and friends gathered at the farm on Martin Creek Road last night to be with the grieving parents. They sat in a circle outside the house and joined hands in mourning. Family members are doing all right with all the community support, but don't want to speak to the media, said family friend Isaac Weber. " (Raymond) was always friendly," said Abner Rudy, another close family friend. " He made up with people really easy. " The second-eldest of four children, he and his six-year-old sister were inseparable, said Weber. " He and Eva were always out together. They were active kids, just devising their own games. " Jack Smith, general manager of the Ottawa-based Canada Safety Council, said a farm can be a dangerous place for children but more caution must be taken. " The reality is simple. Kids should not be left unsupervised near water. Children can drown in bathtubs,'' he said. " It's an adult-supervision issue, whether it's a cesspool or a municipal swimming pool,'' Smith said. He said farms are busy places where adults are usually hard at work. " Nowhere else are children wandering around on an industrial setting,'' he said. "It's always a balancing act on a farm.'' Smith said that with the hot weather children are desperate to play in water. " If they have access to an irrigation pond, that's where they'll go,'' he said. Back at the Martin farm, there was a certain stoic calm to go along with the sadness last night. " It's certainly very much a part of our belief that we trust in God and take it that God had in his divine plan a reason for this to happen even though we as humans can't understand it," Isaac Weber said. There will be a service at the house on Monday, then a burial and further service at the Conestoga Mennonite Meeting House, Weber said. The Dreisinger Funeral Home is arranging the funeral. The exact time hasn't yet been set. lmonteiro@therecord. com ________________ MARTIN, Raymond - On Thursday, July 21, 2005, at Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, as the result of a drowning accident, Raymond Martin, age 5 years, of RR3, Waterloo. Son of Jacob and Mary Ann Martin; brother of Eva, Steven and Dorcas, all at home. Also remembered by his maternal grandparents, Samuel and Melvina Martin of RR2, Elmira and his paternal grandparents, David and Minerva Martin of RR1, Elmira. Predeceased by his sister, Violet. Friends may call at his home, RR3, Waterloo, today (Saturday) from 2-8 p. m. and Sunday from 1-8 p. m. where funeral service will be held on Monday morning at 9 a. m. then to Conestogo Mennonite Meeting House for further service and burial in the adjoining cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira. THE RECORD - Jul. 23, 2005

  
  

• Sources

  [S490] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - The Record (1994-March 2008), Obitaury of Raymon M. Martin - Jul. 23, 2005.

  
  

• Event Map

  Residence - 2005 - RR3, Waterloo, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 21 Jul 2005 - London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Conestogo Old Order Mennonite Cemetery, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth