If all Bridgeport’s Mike Martin ever could lay claim to in his life was that he and his wife Kim were responsible for starting the Challenger Division of Little League baseball for children physically and mentally challenged, it would be more than enough.

 

As anyone who knows Mike Martin, there is more to him than that. His résumé in this community and beyond – and his impact – is large. He has shown it in his personal life with Challenger and being involved in the community and he has shown in professionally as the founder and co-owner of Bridgeport Physical Therapy.

 

I bring all of this up because as of this Tuesday, May 25, Mike Martin’s full-time role on the professional end. This month marks 40 years as a physical therapist and it also marks the beginning of his retirement.

 

What did he do during that time period? Plenty. His patients adore him in the same manner those children and those associated with them at Challenger adore Mike Martin. For the record, there have been tens of thousands of those patients.

 

“I took a calculation over weeks, months and years, treatment wise, as to how many people I’ve seen, and I know I’m well over 200,000. I looked at the number and I finally realized why I’m so tired,” said Martin with a laugh.

 

The 1974 Notre Dame High School and 1981 West Virginia University graduate moved to the city in the 1970s. After leaving WVU, he spent at year at United Hospital Center before working at St. Joseph’s in Buckhannon from 1982 to 1984, and then teamed up with John Spatafore to open up Affiliated Physical Therapy in Nutter Fort in 1984.

 

By 1988, Affiliated had an office on Hill Street in Bridgeport and both practices grew. By 2002, the two partners were so busy with Martin in Bridgeport and Spatafore in Nutter Fort, the logical move was to make two businesses.

 

“That made sense because we were essentially running two separate businesses. I took Bridgeport and he took Nutter Fort and it worked out for everyone,” said Martin.

 

In 1996, it became Bridgeport Physical Therapy and, as most know today, its home base is right off Main Street near the Virginia Avenue intersection. And in 2018, he and his new partner Jack Spatafore opened up a satellite office at White Oaks.

 

“There was a lot of work involved, but I had some pretty good people to show me about work,” said Martin, who is a member of the Bridgeport High School Alumni and Friends Hall of Fame as a rare non-graduate member. “My parents and grandparents that’s where I got it from. My grandparents were Italian immigrants and the greatest people ever.”

 

Mike Martin remembers his family poor financially, but wealthy in every other sense of the word. His grandfather ran a 10-acre farm and it provided for just about everything. And it also provided an example.

 

“When he would butcher hogs, he would butcher two. One of the hogs was for our family and the other he would take to the orphanage,” said Martin. “I was so blessed to be by his side, even though he passed when I was nine. My grandmother was hardworking too and a 19^th century prayer warrior who impacted me by watching her pray, do her rosaries daily, and have complete faith in God.”

 

Faith, and self-belief, put Martin where he is at today. That all could have changed had he listened, he said, to a high school counselor who told him that he was not college material and definitely not suited to study in the medical field when he explained he wanted to be a physical therapist.

 

Mike Martin did not listen. Instead, he enrolled and despite not having the background needed, he was under the tutelage of WVU Professor Dr. Pete Popovich. Popovich knew of Martin’s shortcomings in class and told him he would give him the time he needed to answer any questions, or anything he did not understand.

 

“When I started, I told him I was lost, and he helped me like he said he would. He cared,” said Martin. “I would not be talking to you about me living physical therapy if not for him and, I’m certain, my grandmother’s prayers.”

 

Martin got through WVU. He got into the business and decided, early on – in May of 1983 to be exact – if he was going to treat patients the way he wanted to, he needed to open his own clinic. Along with Spatafore, he had another business partner not many know about, but one most know of.

 

“I asked God to be my business partner and if He agreed to help me pay the bills, I would do all I could to help people,” said Martin,” since then, I’ve been trying to live up to my end of the agreement.”

 

Far be it from me to speak for God, or even anyone on this earthly plain, Martin seems to have lived up to the deal many times over. His compassion for children, his kindness in his profession, his love for family is a trait that has earned him the respect of the community. And Jack Spatafore, who he met during his younger years.

 

“When I got involved with physical therapy, he was who I reached out to, and I’m glad I did,” said Spatafore, who called him a mentor and father figure in both his work and private life. “He has such an honest approach to everything that I was comfortable right away and I’ve never left. I’ve been blessed to be in a faithful and spiritually guided journey in our partnership and now this transition. It all fell into place with one of the most genuine and decent individuals I have ever known.”

 

On the business front, it is likely no one knows Martin better. They have been partners for well over a decade – in fact five years after working together – and have grown ever since.

 

“The term one in a million, that fits Mike Martin. That faith, humbleness and caring heart, it’s legit,” said Spatafore. “He had a love within him to help and it comes from his parents. How fortunate I have been to cross paths with Mike Martin.”

 

Those parents will now get more of their son’s attention.

 

“My parents are aging, and I need to and look forward to spending time with and helping them,” said Martin, who also has spent decades with the BHS football team on Friday nights and working with student-athletes.

 

He will also be able to do more with Kim and their children Mike, Matt, Patrick, and Molly (Butler). And that also includes times with their four grandchildren.

 

The good news? He is retiring, but he will still help as needed. Spatafore has no issue with that.

 

“He’ll have a key to the building. He’s keeping his license and he can help with educational things, troubled patients, someone he wants to work with,” said Spatafore. “All the options are available and up to him.”

 

Martin is appreciative of that.

 

“Jack has just been great, and I know I’m leaving things in good hands. I’ll be glad to help as needed,” said Martin. “It’s always hard to step away, but it was time for me to be 100 percent to my family and other things in the future if 100 percent of my time is needed.”

The really good news? Mike and Kim Martin are not retiring from Challenger League.

 

“Those kids being in our lives are such a blessing to us,” said Martin. “My wife and I have talked about Challenger League. We’re going to do Challenger League until we can’t do it anymore.”

 

I would not expect anything less from a community icon. Enjoy your retirement, Mike. You have earned it.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Mike and Kim Martin with their four children, while they're shown at their favorite place - Challenger League Baseball - in the second photo. In the third photo, Martin looks over a BHS football player as Dr. Kelly Nelson works on him, while the next picture shows Martin and his partner Jack Spatafore working on former BHS student-athlete Carson Winkie. Bottom photo shows Martin earlier this month as he gets ready to call it a career. Challenger League photo by Ben Queen Photography.