JERICHO, Vt. (AP) – Stuart T. Martin, Jr., one of the founders of WCAX-TV, Vermont’s largest and oldest television station, died Saturday at his home in Jericho after a short illness. He was 91.

Martin, known as “Red,” had been with the station since before its birth, working with his stepfather, Charles P. Hasbrook, to get the station on the air in 1954.

“He was the man who brought television to Vermont,” said Marselis Parsons, WCAX’s news director, who has worked at the station since 1967.

Martin was president of Mount Mansfield Television Inc., which owns the CBS affiliate, a station that is unusual in today’s media world because it has remained family owned since its start and has maintained a constant and strong commitment to local news.

Martin’s son Peter said Saturday his father had still been driving himself into the office as recently as three weeks ago.

Martin kept a low profile and shunned awards and publicity but had a large impact in the community, through his work with area non-profits. He was a past chairman the Burlington-Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce and the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont and was a generous supporter of many organizations, including the visiting nurses association.

He also served for over 40 years as a member of the CBS Television Affiliates Advisory Board, and was its chairman in 1967.

The exception to Martin’s low-profile were on-air commentaries he delivered during the station’s hour-long evening news. The commentaries, which ended in the 1970s, reflected Martin’s conservative political philosophy.

He was a major donor to the Republican Party. He also endowed a professorship in computer science at the University of Vermont’s College of Engineering and Mathematics in memory of his wife and was a strong financial supporter of high school writing competitions sponsored by the station.

Parsons said that Martin’s scientific background gave him an interesting perspective. “It was wonderful to go down and talk to a man who had a scientist’s grasp and appreciation for facts, not opinion,” said Parsons. “It was wonderful to work in a station where you could get a decision instantly in the front office and not have to go up through corporate.”

Born Aug. 4, 1913 in Brooklyn, NY, he was the son of the late Stuart T. Martin and Marcia B. Hasbrook. He grew up in New York City and Olean, N.Y. He studied physics at MIT and Duke University. He received his BS degree in 1934 and his D.Sc degree in 1938, both from MIT. As well, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Vermont.

While at Duke University he met Dorothy Webster of Pictou, Nova Scotia, who was studying physiology and pharmacology. They were married in 1939.

He taught physics at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and was employed as a research scientist at RCA Labs in New Jersey.

Martin served in World War II in the Signal Corps. He was assigned to the First and Fifth Armies in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany as a signal intelligence officer with responsibility for establishing or revamping radio direction-finding procedures and equipment. He also served at the Pentagon and Fort Monmouth, N.J., dealing with research, development, and procurement of radio and radar equipment.

Following the war, he returned to MIT, where he taught electrical engineering and did research on various aspects of radar. He then became chief engineer of Sylvania’s electronics division. In 1951 he returned to radar research and development as a consulting engineer with EG&G of Boston.

In 1954 he moved with his family to Burlington to start WCAX-TV with his stepfather.

Martin is survived by his children, Peter Martin of Jericho, Donald Martin of Essex, James Martin of Greensborough, N.H., and Marcia Boyer of Barnard; five grandchildren; and three great-grand children. His wife, Dorothy Webster Martin, died in 1985.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Burlington.