FARMINGTON – Frederick J. “Rick” Martin III, 48, of Rangeley, died unexpectedly of natural causes on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Sandy River Center for Healthcare and Rehabilitation. Rick had been fighting diabetes since he was 10 years old; yet it never stopped him from living an active life.

He was born Jan. 3, 1960, in Pine Ridge, S.D., and he was an athlete throughout high school, graduating in 1978 from Northport High School, Long Island, N.Y. He attended Suffolk Community College for two years and was employed as a landscaper in Long Island, before moving to Maine, where he loved living in Rangeley, enjoying his favorite pastime of snowmobiling. His true love was for the ride!

Though his health limited his ability to realize his dream of becoming a U.S. Marine, he pursued his interests of reading about history, watching old war movies and the cooking channels and spending time in the outdoors fishing and snowmobiling.

He leaves his parents, Frederick J. Martin Jr. and Jeanette Marie (MacMillan) Martin of Rangeley; his sister, Debbie Crosson and her husband, George, of Rangeley; two nieces, whom he loved dearly, Jacqueline Spear and her husband, Michael, and Megan Crosson and a great-niece, Eva Marie Spear, all of Rangeley.