ARCADIA – When Desoto County Commissioner Chairman Jim Selph presented the Distinguished Citizens Award for the first quarter of 2013 to Dr. Calvin Martin at the commission’s meeting on Feb. 12, he told the audience that Martin had saved his wife’s life.

Martin is a fixture in DeSoto County, having practiced medicine here for more than 50 years. He passed the 2012 Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification and is now board-certified. He is currently a specialist in Hospice and Palliative Care with more than nine years of experience working with Tidewell Hospice. A native of Punta Gorda, Martin earned his medical degree at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and completed his general practice residency at Columbus Medical Center, Columbus, Ga. He has served as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of South Florida.