Pueblo remembers late county commissioner, groundbreaking optometrist Richard Martinez

Former Pueblo County Commissioner and President of the Colorado Board of Health Dr. Richard Martinez, Pueblo's first minority optometrist who opened his practice in 1960, died May 19 at age 86.

Martinez became a prominent citizen during his optometry career in Pueblo, fitting steelworkers with safety glasses, developing a relationship with sister city Puebla, Mexico, and serving as a host to president Bill Clinton during his visit to Pueblo.

Martinez was a county commissioner from 1993 to 1999. He was the Colorado Optometric Association's optometrist of the year in 1981 and the Pueblo Latino Chamber of Commerce's 1985 businessman of the year. He was appointed by Colorado Gov. Roy Romer to the Board of Health and became its president in 1990.

"Along with being an optometrist, he was on the optometric board where he traveled the county and did minority recruiting for them, trying to get minorities interested in the field of optometry," said Brenda Trujillo, one of Martinez's four daughters.

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Despite Martinez's many accolades and years in leadership, he never stopped learning, his daughter said. His extensive library included biographies, books on optometry, philosophy, politics and psychiatry. In his 40s, he earned his masters in public health, studying at the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins and Harvard.

Trujillo said she is learning more about her father after his death as community members continue to reach out with stories of his generosity and accomplishments.

"There were a lot of things that he had accomplished, but he never talked about because that's just who he was," she said. "He just did things for people. Not expecting anything in return."

Growing up in a small town with big dreams

Martinez was born June 9, 1935, to Ray and Josie Martinez in Blanca, Colorado, a small community in the San Luis Valley. He was the second oldest of eight children and helped provide for his family at an early age through ranching and working for truck farms.

One day, an 8-year-old Martinez was picking potatoes for 35 cents an hour when he overheard an Anglo farmer's son talk about going to college.

"I thought to myself, 'If they can do it, so can I," Martinez told the Chieftain in 1978. "There's more to life than working in the fields. From then, I decided to seek an education."

Growing up, Martinez's sister Martha Atencio remembers her older brother as a "very smart little boy" who always stuck up for her.

"When we'd be playing the older kids would pick on me," she said. "They didn't want a girl around them and I was always trying to be a tomboy. He'd always stick up for me. Through the years, I always looked up to my big brother ... I admired him for what he was trying to accomplish in his life."

Weeks before his 17th birthday, he graduated from Blanca High School in 1952 as valedictorian of a 13-student class. He then attended Adams State College, becoming the first in his family to attend college.

Martinez was a member of the basketball team at Adams State. At 5-foot-5, he was the shortest player on the team, earning him the nickname, "Peanut," Atencio said.

After finishing school at Adams State, Martinez pursued a doctor of optometry degree from the the University of Southern California. To cover the cost of professional school at USC, he got a financial boost from a good friend.

"My brother Orlando 'Orlie' Martinez, then an orderly at Colorado State Hospital, sent me $150 a month out of his $250 a month salary," he told the Chieftain in 1978.

Martinez would return the favor, later helping his brother earn master of social work and master of public health degrees.

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Martinez leaves a lasting legacy in Pueblo

Martinez moved with his parents to Pueblo in 1952 where his father worked at Colorado Fuel and Iron.

Spending much of his time in Alamosa and later Los Angeles for his studies, Martinez returned to Pueblo as a full-time resident in 1959 with a doctorate. He met his soon-to-be wife, Mary, at a Halloween party hosted by the American G.I. Forum and opened an optometry practice in Bessemer.

The practice, Family Vision Center, eventually relocated to 1621 Prairie Ave. In 1975, Martinez became one of six members on the Colorado State Board of Optometric Examiners and received a Distinguished Professional Service Award two years later.

"My dad helped so many people with free eye exams, advice and at times financially," Trujillo said. "He never forgot his humble beginnings and always tried to pay it forward."

Through his work in optometry, he seemed to know just about everyone in town, according to friend Jim Butcher, who met Martinez in the late 1970s while working as a developer.

"If you went to the fair with him, you won't get any time to have a conversation with him," Butcher said. "All the people will stop and talk to him. Many times that happened where you want to have a conversation with him and you were in a public place. You were constantly interrupted, 'Oh, hi Doc!' He was a well-liked guy."

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Those who knew Martinez knew that he would often carry a guitar with him. Trujillo remembers her father playing his favorite song, "Cucurrucucu Paloma," for friends and family.

"He took his guitar everywhere we went," Trujillo said. "Whether it was a friend's wedding, or birthday party, or even if the family was getting together to go out and have a family dinner."

Martinez's niece Judy Hazelwood recalls Martinez often visiting his mother to have a home-cooked meal with fresh tortillas. At Christmastime, he and his brother Orlando would wake their mother up with a morning serenade.

"He emceed my wedding and I asked him," Hazelwood said, "I said, 'Uncle Richard, I don't want a gift or anything for my wedding ... could you sing for grandma at the wedding?'"

"He said, 'You're asking a big favor,' because after his brother passed, it was a hard song for him to perform," she said. "I didn't know he was going to perform up until the last minute when he pulled out his guitar and he serenaded his mom. He was the life of the party. He was just a joy."

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo remembers late county commissioner Dr. Richard Martinez