Elder James B. Martino

Of the Seventy

Just three months after James Boyd Martino joined the Church in 1968, a friend invited him to meet with a minister of another faith. The minister bombarded him with questions, only a few of which he could answer.

Although the experience shook him, 17-year-old James didn’t let the minister deter him—or his commitment to the Church. Rather, he says, “my testimony then was like a prescription medicine that has to be shaken to be effective. The experience motivated me to study the gospel and grow in my faith.”

Elder Martino, recently called as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, says that studying the gospel has blessed him ever since that time.

Elder Martino was born to Frank Nilson and Betty Jean Newman Martino on March 28, 1951, in Denton, Texas, USA. He married his childhood sweetheart, Jennie Marie Barron, in the Ogden Utah Temple on August 18, 1973, one year after she joined the Church. They are the parents of five children.

Elder Martino received a bachelor’s degree in business from Brigham Young University in 1974. Following graduation, he worked for a family apparel company. He was president and CEO of the company from 1989 to 2000.

At the time of his call, Elder Martino was living in Aubrey, Texas, USA, and serving as a member of the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy in the North America Southwest Area. Prior to that assignment, from 2000 to 2003, he served as president of the Venezuela Maracaibo Mission.

Elder Martino’s other Church service has included serving as a full-time missionary in the Guatemala–El Salvador Mission, stake executive secretary, stake Young Men president, seminary teacher, bishop, stake president, high councilor, and mission president’s counselor.