Cynthia Martinez

Cynthia “Cindy” Lee Ellman Martinez, 57, passed away Feb. 21, 2014, at her residence in Kalispell, after a long, brave battle with brain cancer.

She was born Sept. 17, 1956, in Kalispell to Raymond and Sarah Ellman, the third child of seven all raised on the banks of the Flathead River in Columbia Falls.

Her family enjoyed the Western lifestyle. She loved dancing to country music, riding horses and ranching.

Cindy started grade school in Hungry Horse and finished in Columbia Falls, graduating in 1975. She attended Kinman Business College in Spokane where she graduated with a medical secretary associate’s degree.

On Jan. 7, 1989, she married Candido Martinez. Together they worked for numerous ranches. In 1989, they worked for the Grosswiler Dairy and Lost Trail Ranch in the Flathead Valley. In 1993, they moved to St. Ignatius and worked at the AA Ranch. In 2001, they took a job managing the 7 X Ranch in Hotchkiss, Colo. In 2006, Cindy and Brittany moved back to Kalispell where she enjoyed being with her brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews and lifelong friends.

Cindy is survived by her daughter Brittney Lilley and husband Willard, of Kalispell; four brothers, Dan Ellman and wife Kate, of Columbia Falls, Richard Ellman, of Kalispell, Tim Ellman and wife Patty, of Billings, and Paul Ellman and wife Julie, of Kalispell; two sisters; Sheila Morin and husband Doug, of Kalispell, and Jane Leatherberry and husband Jim, of Buckeye, Ariz.; special friend Bill Smith; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and two generations of nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at Grace Church, 1225 U.S. 93 North, in Kalispell, on Saturday, March 1, at 10 a.m. with a reception following.