Martin van Blankenstein Obituary (1947 - 2022)

On February 8th, 2022, Martin R Van Blankenstein passed away peacefully at the Salt Lake Veteran’s home of natural causes. Marty was born on December 2, 1947 in Rotterdam Holland to Aart and Rhea Van Blankenstein. Marty and his family immigrated from Rotterdam Holland on June 18, 1954, on the vessel “Waterman” to Ellis Island, New York. Shortly after, the family boarded a train to Salt Lake City, where he spent the rest of his days. Marty attended West High School. After graduation, he joined the United States navy, attending boot camp in San Diego. His naval training was in propulsion, engineering, and diesel mechanics. Then he was shipped to Viet Nam in 1967. His duty was to patrol the rivers on a swift boat during the TET offensive, where many Americans lost their lives. Later, Marty married Sandra Brady Van Blankenstein in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 6, 1975. They made their home in Sandy, UT and later, South Jordan, UT. Martin and Sandy had two children and spent all of their family time boating, jeeping, camping, “buggy bumming” and fishing, particularly ice fishing. Martin also enjoyed his motorcycle where he took many trips with his wife and good friends. He was a lover of adventure and brought joy and laughter to his family and friends. He wasn’t a man of many words, but he showed love by being there for his friends and family. He was an avid Ute fan where he had season tickets for many years and loved tailgating with friends. Marty retired as branch manager from Johnson Controls in 2011. He didn’t stay retired for long, before he went back to work for JTB Engineering as a consultant for lifelong friend, Jeff Brown. Above all, Martin loved spending time with his grandsons, taking them to school and making sure to include a Starbucks run every day for a cake pop. During their 46 years of marriage, Martin and Sandy were blessed to find many great friends, who became their family. Even becoming a father figure to many. Martin is survived by his wife of 46 years, Sandra his two children Ryan(Angela) and Kelli(Nick) Schroeter and his three grandchildren, Max, Owen & Mike. Proceeded in death by his father Aart and mother Rhea Van Blankenstein, sisters Antonia Anderson & Hendrika Van De Merwe. Marty’s celebration of life will be held at the Timp Marina Boat Club in American Fork, UT (6262-6380S 100 W, American Fork, UT) on Saturday, Feb 19th from 2-6pm. We welcome everyone to dress (in true Marty fashion) in your favorite Utes, Harley Davidson or Hawaiian attire. If you REALLY wanna tune into your “inner-Marty”, you can wear shorts.