Obituary of Jose Craveiro Garcia Martins

Jose Craveiro Garcia Martins, 85, of Peabody, passed Sunday morning at his home surrounded by his family following a long illness. He was the devoted husband of Rose (Santos) Martins with whom he shared 60 years of marriage. Born in Pinhancos, Portugal, he was the son of the late Antonio Martins Craveiro and Rosa de Jesus Monteiro. He was raised and educated in Portugal and later immigrated with his wife Rose to the United States and has lived in Peabody for the past 60 years. Jose was a passionate master carpenter and builder, a craft that he learned from his father. He was employed for 20 years by Walsh Construction in Salem supervising the construction of many municipal and institutional buildings across the North Shore. He later started his own company in 1980, J. Martins Contractors, Inc, which he operated for over 16 years before he retired. He was a member of the Portuguese Continental Union, Club Luis De Camoes (CLC) and the Azorean Brotherhood of the Divine Holy Ghost. Jose was industrious and caring about everything that he engaged in. Having an inquisitive engineering mind, he constantly took on new and challenging projects and completed them with great pride and joy. He was happiest when he was utilizing his fine old world carpentry skills to craft projects. Upon retirement, he enjoyed doing various projects, gardening and winemaking not only at his home in Peabody but especially at his Quinta that he built in Portugal. He adored his grandchildren and especially loved spending the Summers together with his granddaughters in Portugal. Jose is survived by the love of his life, Rose and his two sons, Albert and his wife Molly Martins of Wenham, and Edward Martins of Peabody, and by his beloved three grandchildren, Catherine Rose and Mary Adelaide Martins, and Alexander. He is also survived by his brother, Edward Craveiro of Portugal, many nieces and nephews and his extended family members Joao Silva of Boston St, Salem and Manuel Santos Bettencourt of Collins St. Peabody. He was predeceased by his two brothers, Antonio and Joao Martins. The Martins family would like to thank the nurses and caregivers from Care Dimensions and Right at Home Care who provided compassionate and professional care to Jose. His funeral will be held on Thursday at 10:00 AM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody, followed by his Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Peabody to which relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held on Wednesday from 5:00 until 8:00 PM. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Jose’s memory to Care Dimensions, 75 Sylvan St, Danvers, MA 01923, www.caredimensions.org.