MARTIN CANTINE

Former Wasilla resident Martin William Cantine, 77, died May 3, 2008, in Yankton, S.D. Graveside service will be at 2 p.m. May 6 at Riverside Cemetery in Pierre, S.D. A luncheon will follow. Online register book can be found at www.feigumvanlith.com.

Cantine was born in Tracy, Minn., on Nov. 30, 1930, to Martin and Sylvia Cantine. The family lived in and around Walnut Grove until they moved to McLaughlin, S.D., where he attended grade school. They moved back to the Minnesota area and settled in Seaforth. He graduated from Wabasso High School, St. Paul Barber School and Mankato Vo-Tech.

Cantine served in the Army during the Korean Conflict and upon his discharge married Margie Balaberda of Onida, S.D. At this time he was helping his brother-in-law farm west of Onida. Marty and Marge moved to their farm north of Delhi, Minn., until he went to barber school. The family then relocated to Marshall and Tyler, Minn.

Cantine was a security guard at the South Dakota State Capitol for several years. He also owned Marty’s Bait Shop in Ft. Pierre until a fire destroyed it. It was a meeting place for friends from all over the United States. He later taught school in Timber Lake, S.D., and was a substitute teacher and car salesman when he relocated to Wasilla to be closer to his family. In 2006, he returned to the Pierre area, where he lived until he suffered a stroke and aneurysm a year ago. Since then he was in a nursing home.

Cantine loved people and enjoyed being on the road. He made friends wherever he traveled or resided.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marge, and second wife, Beverly (Turner); his parents, Martin and Sylvia; brothers-in-law James Young of McAllen, Texas, and Duane Winkler of Onida, S.D.; and nephew Michael Young of Pierre.

Survivors include daughter Carey Nutter and grandchildren Samara, Janelle, Caleb and Colton of Palmer; daughter Laurie (Tom) Bryson and grandchildren Chandra (Bryson) and Tim Keene, and great-grandson Garrett Keene and Joshua Bryson of Bois D’Arc, Mo.; and son James (Linda) Cantine and Linda and grandchildren Chauntel and Jesse Troyer of Wasilla. Other survivors include sisters Dorothy Young of San Antonio, Texas, and Barbara Winkler of Onida, S.D.; niece Mary (Young) and Kirk James and their son Austin of San Antonio; nieces Pamela (Winkler) and Paul Eidsness, and their children Paul Jr. and Jessie; Jodene (Winkler) and Rick Bartels of Pierre, and nephews Jeffery and Duane Winkler of Onida; and a host of cousins, other relatives and friends.