Susana Martinez’s father passes away at 80, considered a legend in El Paso boxing

Jake Martinez, the father of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez passed away Monday (Dec. 31) after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 80 years old.

While his daughter has achieved political notoriety, Jake Martinez was a well-known and well-respected boxer and boxing coach who for decades led many young El Paso fighters to Golden Gloves competitions as well as top-ranked national amateur and professional bouts.

In an Internet post three years ago, longtime El Paso-area boxing coach Thomas W. McKay described Martinez as the “Grand Old Master of El Paso Boxing,” listing Jake Martinez’s long resumé as a coach and trainer. Martinez was also a first-rate fighter in his own right, winning the Texas Golden Gloves title three times.

“Just think for a minute if you will,” McKay wrote. “Jake Martinez led his two outstanding boxers to six Texas State Golden Gloves Championships, eight Texas USA State championships, one USA National Boxing title, one PAL National title, one Golden Gloves National Title, three Blue and Gold titles, the Olympic Trials, and served as a coach to the Olympic Festival in France. His boxing credentials over five decades ‘speaks’ to greatness.”

While scouring the Internet, Capitol Report New Mexico found this undated photo of Jake Martinez posing with two of his charges via a website called showedoffBlog:

Jacobo “Jake” Martinez started his amateur boxing career as a 16-year-old in El Paso in 1948. He joined the Marines in 1951, served in Korea and won the All Marine Corps Boxing Championship in his weight division two years later.

After an honorable discharge in 1954, Martinez moved back to El Paso and married his sweetheart, Paula Aguirre, and raised a family — one son, Jake Jr., and two daughters, Letitia and Susana.

In addition to his boxing and coaching career, Jake Sr. also worked as a deputy sheriff before starting his own security firm with wife Paula, with a teenaged Susana patrolling the parking lots at area bingo games and parties.

Paula Martinez died a few years ago. In a story published in the El Paso Times in 2010, Jake Jr. attributed Jake Sr.’s dementia to blows to the head he received as a boxer.

In 1993, Jake Sr. was elected to the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame. We managed to find his bio from the induction ceremony online:

Gov. Martinez’s office says her father will be buried at Fort Bliss in Texas. In lieu of flowers, Gov. Martinez suggests people make memorial contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association.