Steven Martens

Steven, age 33 years, was found unresponsive in his car at a traffic light. CPR was started by a nurse in a car behind him and he was taken to Vanderbilt hospital. He never regained consciousness. While surrounded by family and friends, he was pronounced brain dead on July 20, 2017 at 6:15pm. As a signed organ donor, Steven was kept on life support until July 22, when his organs could bring life to 3 other people.Steven was the first child of Debbie and Jim Martens. He was born in Prince George, BC, on July 19, 1984. He has one brother Douglas. Steve attended school in McBride, Prince George, and Smyrna. He attended University at TN Tech in Cookeville. Steve enjoyed work that most of us would be afraid to do including arborist/ tree trimming, climbing towers, and changing lights at the top of 1500 foot towers.Throughout his life he enjoyed living life to the fullest and on the edge. In his younger days he was a snow boarder, mountain biker, bmx biker, skate boarder, football and basketball player, and soccer player from ages 3-16. As a young adult he continued skateboarding and then picked up the sport again while living in California last year.Steve enjoyed golfing and went golfing on July 16 ^th with his brother Doug as an early celebration of his birthday.Steven is survived by parents Debbie and Jim, brother Douglas (Gabrielle), grandmother Irene Twiss, grandfather Jim Wiles (Jesslyn), grandfather Bob McDonald, grandmother Anne (Ron) Williams, several loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and a host of friends. He was especially close to his cousins Justin, Rachael, Eli, Zach, Zillon, Zeben, Christy and Shaena. He will be missed by his beloved pets Ricky and Bobby.Steven is predeceased by grandma Mary Martens; great great grandma and grandpa Johnson (who he knew); and great grandpa and grandma Twiss.Our heartfelt gratitude to the nurse that administered CPR until the first responders arrived. Because of you we were able to say goodbye to our son and Steven was able to give life to others through organ donation. Thank you to the police, firefighters, and ambulance. A big thank you to the Vanderbilt emergency department, the medical ICU, and TN donor services. All the nurses, doctors, EMTs, social workers, medical receptionists and staff were kind, compassionate, and caring. Your actions truly supported us through an extremely difficult time.In lieu of flowers, donation to H.A.R.T. fund to help those struggling with addiction who can not otherwise afford help. www.hartfunding.org A celebration of life will be held at Discovery Place on Aug 19, 2017, at 3 PM. The address is 1635 Spencer Mill Rd., Burns, TN, 37029. If you are unable to attend, please take some time to honor him in your own way that day and share it with us.We love and miss him.www.CallNFC.com