Peter Martell

April 24, 1942 – April 3, 2018

From the Funeral Home

Peter M. Martell, 75, of Oak Bluffs died on Tuesday evening, April 3, 2018 at the Mass. General Hospital in Boston.

Peter was the son of Elizabeth (Marden) Martell of Wrentham and predeceased by his father Louis A. Martell and by his brother, Ralph A. Martell.

A visitation period will be held in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home., Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs on Wed., April 11 from 10:00am to 11:30am followed by a funeral service in the Trinity United Methodist Church in the Oak Buffs Campgrounds at 12:00pm officiated by Rev. Roberta Williams. Burial will follow in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Pacific Ave., Oak Bluffs with military honors provided by the Veterans of Martha’s Vineyard and a Masonic service by the Oriental-Martha’s Vineyard Masonic Lodge.

A reception will be held at the Ocean View Restaurant.

Donations in Peter’s memory can be made to the Oak Bluffs Firefighters’ Association, PO Box 2131, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

From the Vineyard Gazette

Peter Martell, the colorful, gumptious Oak Bluffs businessman and former longtime emergency management director for the town, died Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was 75. The cause of death was not immediately known.

He was the former owner of the Wesley Hotel (now Summercamp), and the Lampost bar and grill on Circuit avenue, among other business pursuits on the Island. A salty character known for his sometimes controversial opinions and skirmishes with town officials, he had dedicated himself to running the emergency management and disaster response for the town for 38 years until his retirement four years ago.

In that capacity, he ran public safety drills and presided over northeasters, blizzards, hurricanes and boil water orders and presidential visits for nearly decades.

“Nobody’s died on my watch,” he told the Gazette in a 2014 interview, citing his proudest accomplishment.

Mr. Martell stepped down from the post in January 2014 during a period of change and also controversy over the town’s emergency management affairs.

A month earlier he was honored with a certificate of merit from the Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England.

In the early 2000s, he was instrumental in securing Homeland Security funding for a 36-foot patrol boat for the town that would later play a critical role in the 2010 Menemsha boathouse fire.

He had a penchant for plaid shirts and suspenders and was a former longtime volunteer firefighter for the town.

He bought the Wesley Hotel, a 95-room rambling historic hotel near the entrance to the Camp Ground overlooking the Oak Bluffs harbor, in 1986. The hotel was base camp for members of the Secret Service during the summer vacations for President Clinton and later President Obama. Mr. Martell sold the Wesley to Lark Hotels in 2015. His ownership of the Lampost, a Circuit avenue bar, dated to the 1970s and 80s.

Visiting hours will be held in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs on Wednesday, April 11 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. A funeral service will follow at noon in the Trinity United Methodist Church in the Camp Ground. The Rev. Roberta Williams will officiate.

Interment will follow in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Pacific Ave., Oak Bluffs with military honors provided by the Veterans of Martha’s Vineyard and a Masonic service by the Oriental-Martha’s Vineyard Masonic Lodge.

A potluck reception will be held at the Ocean View restaurant.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Oak Bluffs Firefighters’ Association, P.O. Box 2131, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

A full obituary will appear in a future edition of the Gazette.