“It is with great sadness that we report the death of Mildred Martin on Tuesday, May 4, 2004,” said Stephen Surratt, vice-president/chief operating officer of Texas Scenic Company. “Mrs. Martin is one of the pioneers of the industry and she will be deeply missed by all of us at TSC.”

Mrs. Martin’s parents, Adolph and Martha Beck, founded TSC in 1936 in an old San Antonio theatre building. Mrs. Martin loved to tell stories about spending time in that old theatre building as a child watching the stage curtains being sewn.

In the early 1950s, ownership of the company passed to Mildred and her husband, Glenn C. Martin Jr., known throughout the industry as “Millie and Big Glenn.” Under their direction the company grew from a small San Antonio business to supplying many types of stage equipment to schools and theatres throughout the state. Mrs. Martin’s son, Glenn C. Martin III, assumed the presidency of the company in the 1970s.

On the occasion of the company’s 60th anniversary in 1996, Glenn wrote about the legacy of his grandparents and parents in the company newsletter. Speaking of his mother he said, “Today, my mother still gives me advice at the office or over the phone. This advice is not about how to motorize a set or lay out a dimming system, but it is about how to treat our customers.”

He added, “Throughout my 25 years with the company, I can’t begin to count the number of times customers have told me stories about my mother and father. They touched many people in this industry and helped build a company we are proud of today.”

In 1998 in conjunction with Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA), TSC established the Mildred and Glenn C. Martin Jr. Scholarship for Technical Theatre, awarded annually to a Texas high school student wishing to study technical theatre at any Texas college or university.

Services were held May 6 and 7 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, in San Antonio, Texas, with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery. The family requests that donations be made to St. Peter’s-St. Joseph’s Children’s Shelter, 919 Mission Rd., San Antonio, TX 78210 or Christus Santa Rosa Hospice, 4415 Centerview Dr., San Antonio, TX 78228.

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