Bowling Green, Ky. - Husband. Father. Friend. Businessman. Philanthropist. Regent. Teacher. Mentor. Community leader. Entrepreneur. Visionary. Competitor.

Those were just some of the words used to pay tribute and honor the late Cornelius A. Martin on Thursday afternoon at Western Kentucky University. Martin, chair of WKU’s Board of Regents, was killed June 3 in Logan County when a truck hit his motorcycle and two others.

About 400 people attended Thursday’s ceremony near the Guthrie Tower where a tree and memorial honoring Martin were unveiled.

“Today is not a day for mourning. Today is not a day to hurt,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “Today is a day to celebrate his life among us and to salute our friend Cornelius Martin for his involvement in our lives and the good fortune we all shared to have him in our midst.”

Martin, a native of Muhlenberg County, joined WKU’s Board of Regents in 1994 and served as chair from 1998-2000 and 2004-06.

Martin’s family – wife, Gail, and children Amber, Chad and Coleman – expressed their thanks and appreciation for the community’s support in the past several weeks. Martin’s children remembered their father as a man who valued diversity, who worked to get things done and wanted others to succeed and achieve their dreams.

“My dad taught me that the sky is the limit,” Amber Martin said.

When Martin bought his Bowling Green auto dealership in 1985, he “hit the ground running and never looked back,” Gail Martin said. That business developed into a group that included 15 auto dealerships in six states, two Harley-Davidson dealerships and an aviation company.

Cornelius Martin was a competitor and was driven by challenges not by money, she said. “He was about soaring. He was unstoppable,” Gail Martin said.

She read inscriptions from one of his favorite motorcycle helmets. The final one reads: “If You Can’t Run with the Big Dogs, Get Back on the Porch.”

“He did run with the big dogs,” Gail Martin said. “He had the courage to take risks. He never got back on the porch.”

Regent Chair Earl Fischer said Martin “put passion into everything he did” including his 12 years of service as a WKU regent. “Cornelius loved this university with the same passion that he loved his life, the same passion he loved his family and certainly the automotive empire that he built,” he said.

Former regent Peggy Loafman said Martin brought a fresh business perspective to WKU’s board when he was appointed in 1994. When President Tom Meredith resigned during her term as chair in 1996-97, she asked Martin to chair the search committee that ultimately brought Dr. Ransdell back to his alma mater. “Cornelius made sure we hired that the right person for the job,” Loafman said.

Dr. Meredith said Martin demanded excellence and greatness. “If you were around Cornelius, you’d better step up,” he said. “I can assure you that Cornelius Martin expected greatness if you were around him.”

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

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