On Wednesday, June 5, 2019, Rudy Isidro Martin, loving husband, father, brother, and grandfather, passed away at the age of 65. Rudy was born in Havana, Cuba on May 15, 1954 to Felipe and Hilda Martin and came to America at five years old with his brother Carlos on one of the last "Operation Peter Pan" flights out of Cuba to Miami. Rudy and his brother then traveled to Memphis to live with a relative until their parents were able to leave Cuba and reunite with them and start a new life six months later.

Rudy had a passion for music that began early in life and received his first drum set at 11 years old. He went on to play in Memphis State's "The Mighty Sound of the South" throughout his college career, and his love of drums continued later in life playing in various bands. In addition to playing the drums, Rudy also loved to sing everything from The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, to music reminiscent of Cuba, and did so at nursing homes through non-profit organization Creative Aging, where he often got "sitting ovations" as he used to say.

Along with music, Rudy also loved sports. He loved watching golf and volunteering every year at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, and absolutely loved Memphis Tigers basketball and football. After his diagnosis, he began his journey with Jesus and couldn't help but talk about his faith with everyone he met and became such a passionate Christian that he even wrote a book about his spiritual walk in hopes of bringing others to Christ.

With deep appreciation, Rudy's family would like to thank Dr. Bradley Somer, Heather Greene AOCNP, and Care Support Advocate Clarence Williams at West Cancer Center, and his surgeons, Dr. David Shibata and Dr. Evan Glazer for being a part of his courageous fight. Rudy is survived by his wife, Suzanne Martin, his brother Carlos Martin (Tanya), his daughters, Natalie Martin (boyfriend Garrett Pilgrim), Mandy Stagg (Kyle), Emily Panos (Peter), his grandsons Wyatt and Weston Panos, and his beloved cat, Sophie Grace Martin.

Arrangements are handled by High Point Funeral Home.

A visitation and service will be held Thursday June 13th at Hope Church, 8500 Walnut Grove Rd. Cordova, TN. 38018. The visitation will be 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. and the service will be 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
The burial will be held at Memphis Memory Gardens Rd. 6444 Raleigh Lagrange Rd. Memphis TN. 38134.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:
West Cancer Center (https://westcancercenter.org/donate/)
Stax Music Academy (https://soulsvillefoundation.networkforgood.com/projects/31116-stax-music-academy)
Memphis Athletic Ministries (https://giving.mamsports.org/give/158232/#!/donation/checkout)