Obituaries

-- Adam Bernstein

Alba Burnham MartinAdministrative Law Judge

Alba Burnham Martin, 99, a retired administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board, died of an autoimmune disorder July 10 at Collington Episcopal Life Care Community in Mitchellville.

Mr. Martin worked for the NLRB for 36 years, joining the agency two years after its establishment.

He started as a field lawyer working from NLRB offices in Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and St. Louis. He became a regional lawyer in Cincinnati before being named special assistant to the general counsel in Washington.

He became a trial examiner -- a job whose title later changed to administrative law judge -- and held that position until his 1973 retirement.

Mr. Martin, a native of Geneva, Ohio, graduated from Harvard College in 1930 and studied law at Harvard Law School. He received a law degree in 1934 from what is now the law school at Case Western Reserve University.

Within a year, he moved to Washington to join the New Deal programs. He first investigated AT&T companies for the Federal Communications Commission and did investigative work for the Senate Committee on Education and Labor. He joined the NLRB in 1935.

During World War II, Mr. Martin served in the Army in England and in northern Europe for the 101st Airborne Division and the Office of Strategic Services, the wartime precursor of the CIA.

After retiring from government, he was a consultant to the State Department on personnel issues involving Foreign Service officers and conducting discharge and appeals hearings for special review boards.

Mr. Martin was twice president of the Hollin Hills Tennis Club and played until age 86. He was a hiker who belonged to the Appalachian Mountain Club. He also enjoyed world travel and classical music.