Keith Martin, 75, broadcaster led homeland security in Pennsylvania – Coastal Observer
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Keith Martin, 75, broadcaster led homeland security in Pennsylvania

March 3, 2022

Keith Martin, a TV news anchor who served as Pennsylvania’s first director of homeland security, died Feb. 13 in Charleston following a heart attack suffered at his home in Litchfield Country Club. He was 75.

He was born George Keith Martin Jr. in Scranton, Pa., the son of Jeanne Madden Martin, an actress and singer,  and George Keith Martin, a  museum director and artist. He graduated from Lafayette College with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. 

He served in the Army as the leader of a heavy mortar platoon in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1969-70. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve and Pennsylvania National Guard for 34 years, retiring as a colonel and receiving a promotion to brigadier general.

Mr. Martin became the news anchor of WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1977 and was a fixture on television news in Northeastern Pennsylvania for over 30 years. He also worked as anchor at WDAU-TV and WGAL-TV in Lancaster, Pa. During the course of his career he interviewed presidents and politicians, and covered historic events around the world in Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Panama and Vietnam. He reported from Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. 

In 2003, Mr. Martin was appointed by then-Gov. Ed Rendell to serve as Pennsylvania’s director of homeland security. He was charged with coordinating the all-hazards prevention, preparation and response activities of all state agencies. He served in that full-time capacity for almost 20 months and then continued to serve as senior advisor to the governor until September 2005. 

Mr. Martin was then appointed as a member of the Overseas Basing Commission. He visited 20 countries and traveled more than 100,000 miles touring present and proposed U.S. military installations. He finished his service as program manager for the Military Child Education Coalition, a Department of Defense initiative that helped children of U.S. military personnel.

He is survived by his stepsons, Douglas Simon (Holly) of Phoenix, Ariz., and Bart Simon (Christine) of Boston; his grandchildren, Ava, Barrett, Miller and Forde; his  brothers, Harry (Carol) of Doylestown, Pa., and Robert (Ruth) of Scranton; and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

His wife Kay Grant Martin died in August.

A memorial service will be held May 7 at 11 a.m. at Elm Park United Methodist Church in Scranton. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the MSPCA Cape Cod Adoption Center (mspca.org) or the Wounded Warriors Project (woundedwarriorproject.org).

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