Warren N. Martin, a Marine colonel during World War II and inventor and first patent holder of a child-proof safety cap, died at the age of 87 on November 16, in Santa Barbara. Born in Greenville, S.C., on February 24, 1918, Martin graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor of arts and a law degree. He married Frances Eells, a graduate of William and Mary, in 1941 and was soon sent to serve in the South Pacific and China. Upon returning from the war, Martin opened his law practice in Greenville. He soon became involved in the formative stages of the airline industry, first with TWA and then with the Air Transport Association in Washington, D.C., where he served for 35 years as vice president of public affairs. An avid flyer, Martin piloted his own airplane and he and his wife traveled extensively across the country. In 1956, Martin, prompted by his young daughter’s swallowing a bottle of baby aspirin, invented the child-proof safety cap. He is survived by his wife Frances of Pacific Palisades; son James of Ft. Lauderdale; and his daughter Nancy, an art historian who lives in the Palisades with her husband, writer/director Gene Quintano and their daughter Francesca, a freshman at Tufts/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In lieu of flowers, Martin’s family has requested donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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