Marti Martin Cutter

Marti Michelle Martin Cutter, a vibrant and outgoing mother of two college-aged sons and a highly regarded employee of Buehler Engineering of Sacramento, died tragically in an off-road vehicle accident on August 20 in Amador County. An avid outdoorswoman, Marti loved camping, hiking, hunting, swimming and skiing. She especially relished sharing outdoor adventures with her sons, Martin, 20, and Michael, 19. Family, friends and colleagues described Marti as a bright light who lived her life with passion, curiosity, energy, gusto, and a can-do generosity. Buehler, in announcing her death on its website, observed that Marti “took an interest in everyone she met, and would often ride her bike to coffee or breakfast to get to know someone a little better.” At Buehler, Marti was active in industry associations, pitched in to help organize events, and “would step up to any task that needed doing,” Buehler said in its eulogy. She also “kept a watchful eye on staff for those that needed help or a hug. She made Buehler feel like home.” Her family described Marti as loving, kind, expressive and creative. A social butterfly, she lived life fully and knew how to have fun. Ever unique and always adventurous, Marti helped others try new things that might be outside their comfort zones. Her willingness to push past comfort zones likely was rooted in her childhood, spent in multiple countries as part of an Air Force family. She was born on January 27, 1964, in St. George, Bermuda, and grew up in Germany, Japan, Virginia, Korea, and Belgium, interspersed with stints over the years in California. Marti’s late father, retired Colonel Joseph Walter Martin Jr., and her mother, Shirley Martin, settled their family in Carmichael in 1971. Marti graduated from El Camino High School and attended college in Belgium as well as American River College in Sacramento. After college she worked as an office manager for a landscaping firm and as a restaurant event planner before joining Buehler. She was a marketer, a trainer, a mentor, and a confirmed do-it-yourselfer. Actively engaged in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, Marti would “volunteer at any event and golf tournament that needed an extra pair of hands,” Buehler noted. She served on numerous committees for the Society for Marketing Professional Services and was chair of the Sacramento golf tournament for the Design-Build Institute of America from nearly its beginning. Marti was an extraordinary mother, daughter, sister and aunt. She is survived by her mother Shirley Martin of Carmichael and of Cartersville, Georgia; by her sister Angie Martin and brother-in-law Shea Flanagan of Austell, Georgia; and by her brother Joe Martin and sister-in-law Tammie Martin of The Colony, Texas. Besides her treasured sons, Martin and Michael Cutter, she is survived by their father, Paul Cutter, and by niece Kelly Flanagan and nephews David Flanagan and Steven Martin. Celebration of Marti’s life will be September 8th at Del Paso Country Club from 2 to 5.