Garnett, I will give the obit translation a shot:"Shortly before closing time we received the sad news that Dipl. Ing. Martin Bames (Dipl. Ing. is the abbreviation of an engineering degree) passed away at 57 years after a long illness. Martin Bames became our collegue at a time when his mobility was already greatly compromised. Working in his profession as engineer at various locations combined with travelling was beyond his capabilities.
He returned with wife and child from Ireland and resolved to work as a translator to provide for his family and give them the standard of living they were used to. If it had to be he would work day and night. His specially equipped car allowed him to drive to translating jobs and also one time to our morning meeting place in Cologne. He would have liked to stay in touch more with all his former collegues but each drive by car took an enormous toll on his body and his ability to concentrate.
However, he managed to separate from his wife and to move from Hemer to Wuppertal where he lived and worked as much as it was possible. But then he lost his strength and couragous battle. We grieve for our faithful member, a highly qualified collegue that many of us did not have a chance to know personally. We will always keep him in our esteemed memory. (written by Martin Bindhardt)