Martin was born in the depression of the thirties into a large family of three sisters and three brothers. All three sisters preceded him in death, as did two brothers, his mother and father. His father was a country preacher, so the family moved often, finally to Kirksville, Missouri where he went to junior high, senior high, and eventually college, where he received a B.S. degree in Education with majors in Physical Education and English. As a high school football player, he acquired some success, and received a football scholarship to play for Kirksville State. Before graduating he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, ending up in Japan on occupation duty. After discharge he came back to Kirksville, married his childhood sweetheart, finished college, then moved wife and daughter to Marthasville, Mo. There he taught high school English, Physical Education, baseball, softball and basketball. In 1950 the family moved to Mexico where for nine years he coached all sports and taught English before taking a job with A.P. Green Firebrick Company. He worked in Industrial Relations for five years, leaving to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) He served for twenty plus years with distinction and was decorated numerous times. He became a firearms instructor and served in that capacity for over seventeen years. He retired in 1984, opened a Private Investigator Firm, and closed this firm in 1996. He then moved to Rainbow Springs, located in Dunnellon, FL. He and wife Betty are the parents of Sheila Jean Winters of McIntosh, FL, Martin Jay Cannaday of Glen St.Mary, FL, and grandparents to Daniel M. O’Bryan, Timothy O’Bryan, and Madison Lynn O’Bryan. Memorial Services for Mr. Cannaday will be held at 11 AM on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, at Roberts Funeral Home, 19939 E. Pennsylvania Ave, Dunnellon, FL, with Pastor Eddie Fulford officiating. His remains will then be placed in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, FL.
