1970: When Dr. Joe Martin lost his wife, Helen Martin, he thought he had lost everything. He decided to relocate his family from California to his hometown of Pine Valley to be close to his mother, Kate Martin.
Working at Pine Valley Hospital, Joe immediately became a fixture of the community. His charismatic charm was especially impressive to his nurse, Ruth Brent. Though there was an obvious attraction, Joe kept his distance because Ruth was married. He became her listening ear as her marriage to Ted Brent fell apart. There time only increased when Joe’s daughter, Tara Martin, began dating Ruth’s son, Phil Brent.
Joe would be present for Ruth’s greatest tribulation, the revelation that her son Phil was not actually hers, but her sister’s, Amy Tyler, child. Joe agreed to keep the secret for Ruth's sake. When Phil did find out, Ted got in a drunk driving accident, and died. Joe helped Ruth morn, but could not deny his feelings for her. He wondered if it was possible for true love to strike twice in one lifetime.

1971: Joe was too busy with his children’s love lives to realize he had one. Though he liked Phil, he was not fond of Tara reuniting with him because of how he treated her before leaving for New York. Jeff’s sudden marriage to Erica threw him off balance as well. His preoccupation made him unaware that he and Ruth were spending a lot of time together. Though they were not even engaged, many in Pine Valley already regarded them as a couple.
When Chuck Tyler collapsed because of kidney failure, Joe treated him at the hospital. Joe was convinced it was Tara’s love that brought Chuck back. Little did Joe know, Tara’s heart was no longer with her fiancé, but with Phil.

1972: Joe never thought true love could hit twice, but it did. Joe proposed to Ruth. There was no doubt in his mind that she would accept. They married in the Martin home in front of family and friends. As a wedding present, Kate gave them her home.
Wedding bells were in the air in Pine Valley. Tara and Chuck eloped like Jeff and Erica had. Though Joe was not present for the wedding, he was much more comfortable with Tara’s union than with his son’s. Later that year, Joe was blessed with a grandson, Phillip Charles Tyler.

1973: Joe was happily married, and could not understand why his children could not be too.
Erica was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at home. She demanded to have another doctor examine her, but there was not time. Joe discovered Erica collapsed as result of an infection caused by an abortion. Joe was forced with the heavy task of revealing Erica’s lie to Jeff.
Phil was found alive in Vietnam. Ruth wanted to talk to Joe about what this would do to Tara, but Joe was sure she was happy with Chuck. Joe wanted Phil to know his place in her life. Tara was now married and had a family. Just like Tara moved on, Phil needed to too.

1974: Joe needed to save his son. Erica came to Joe with a proposition. She had been avoiding testifying on Jeff’s behalf for the murder of Jason Maxwell. The only way she would comply to Jeff’s wishes was if Joe offered her monetary compensation. Joe was not one to be blackmailed, but he could not stand to see Jeff’s good name be dragged into the mud. He complied to his daughter in laws wishes.
Joe was relieved when Joe was exonerated. As soon as his divorce to Erica was finalized, Jeff married Mary. Joe and Ruth acted as host to their foster child, Tad Gardner. Until his biological parents were found, he was their ward.

1975: Mary’s tragic death left Jeff an empty shell of a man. Joe assured his son that if he could not care for Tad alone, he and Ruth were more than willing to adopt Tad as their own. After all, he had lived with the Martins for almost two years now. Joe asked Tad if he would agree to the new arrangement. Tad already felt like Joe’s son. Jeff decided to go home to California to mourn Mary’s death on his own.
But as Tad brought Joe and Ruth closer together, Phil’s constant prying into Tara’s marriage threatened to tear them apart. Ruth broke down and told Phil the truth about little Phillip’s paternity. This was the first time Joe would here the truth as well. Little Phillip was actually Phil’s son. When Ruth turned to Joe for support, Joe had to turn away. Joe was angered that Ruth could have lied to him for so long.

1976: Joe and Ruth’s marriage crumbled over their opposing views on Phil and Tara’s relationship. Little Phillip began to suffer from asthma attacks. Joe diagnosed his grandson’s symptoms as psychosomatic. He referred Tara to a special clinic in Arizona. He hoped the time away would help Phillip come to terms with the situation, and eventually be ready to know the truth about his father.
Joe suffered a sudden bought with appendicitis. Ruth ran to her husband’s side with David Thornton, a physician’s assistant. David saved Joe, revealing he was in fact a surgeon. By Joe’s side, Ruth admitted that their marriage had disintegrated. She had almost begun an affair with David. But, his near death made him realize that she still loved him. The couple promised never to keep secrets from each other again.
Joe recovered in time to give Tara away at the altar to Phil. The Martins came together for a Christmas wedding.

1977: Joe got word that Tad’s father was found alive in Texercana. Joe got on the first flight, intent on adopting his foster son. Ray Gardner was everything Tad had described him to be. Ray agreed to let Tad go, for $10,000. Joe was not about to be extorted. He told Ray he was going to wait to see what the courts would do. After all, Ray had abandoned an abused Tad on the side of the road. He knew no court would let Ray harm his son again.
When he came home, Ruth was angry that Joe did not just acquiesce. She wanted Tad to be their son. Little did Joe know, Ruth had called Ray to try to try to settle things herself.

1978: Joe had warned Ruth about Ray, but she had contacted him anyways. To scare the Martins into granting his demands, Ray attacked and raped Ruth. Joe helped his wife to recover from her trauma. He enlisted Paul’s help to assure that Ray went to prison for his crime. Joe and Ruth were now formally able to adopt Tad.
But Ray remained a threat. At the end of the year, news broke that Ray had escaped from prison.

1979: Joe had to say goodbye to Tara and Jeff within months of each other. But as his two eldest children moved on, Joe learned he was a new one was on the way. Ruth was pregnant. At first, the Martins contemplated an abortion because of Ruth’s advanced age. They knew of the different ailments that could come about because of it, but an amniocentesis determined the child was healthy. That Christmas, Joseph “Joey” Martin, jr. was born.
Tara returned at the end of the year with bad news. Phil had gone missing in an undercover mission. She moved back in with the Martins while the government searched for her husband.

1981: Joe befriended Leora Sanders, a woman who had been admitted to Pine Valley Hospital with mysterious bruises. Joe recognized these as signs of abuse. He began to spend more time with Leora to have her admit to her problem. Ruth grew jealous of the attention Joe was giving Leora.
That all changed when Ruth got word that Phil’s plane was shot down by a bomb while on a special mission to South America. This time, he was surely dead. Joe stood by his wife as she mourned the loss of her son.
Tara made the rash the decision to marry Jim Jefferson. Joe agreed to give his daughter away to her new husband. Tara and Charlie moved to Portand.
Tad’s growing pains paid its toll on the Martins. After crashing the family station wagon, he ran away from home. Not long after, his biological mother and sister, Opal and Jenny Gardner, arrived on the Martin doorstep. The Martins opened their home to the Gardners hoping one day for Tad’s return.

1982: Joe got word that Ray had been released early from prison. No matter what Joe did to protect his family, it never seemed like enough. Joey was almost kidnapped at Cortlandt Manor. As much as Joe was afraid of what Ray would do next, he was more fearful about what this would do to Ruth.
At the hospital, Joe made a startling discovery when Ray was admitted for severe burns. Joe was forced operate on the man who promised to terrorize his family. When Ray woke up from surgery, he claimed he was blind.
On New Year’s Eve, Greg Nelson ran into the Martin home telling everyone to get out as Ray had planted a bomb to go off. Ray ran away with the bomb after finding out Jenny was in the house. Ray died when the device exploded in his arms.

1983: Joe was relieved when Tad returned from his cross-country tour. But, Joe worried about his son’s aptitude for mischief.

1985: A dark cloud descended on the Martin home. Kate died peacefully in her sleep. Joe called on all his children to return and mourn their beloved Grams. Tara returned with a surprise. She had a baby girl and named her Kate. Though their reunion was so brief, Joe was happy to see her life back in order.

1986: After Tad’s failed marriage to Hillary Wilson, he told his parents he would be leaving town again. But the Martin home was not empty for long. Jeff returned to Pine Valley. He and Chris were having marital problems and agreed to trial separation. Jeff began working with Joe at Pine Valley Hospital again,
Dr. Charles Tyler died peacefully in his sleep. Joe lost a close friend and colleague. The hospital Board of Directors named Joe his successor as Chief of Staff.
Charlie announced he would be attending Pine Valley University in the fall. Joe insisted he stay at the Martin home, but he had other plans. He wanted to live at the Wallingford Estate to help Phoebe mourn.

1989: Tad invited Joe and Ruth to a special dinner at the Cortlandt Manor. There, he propsed to Dixie Cooney. Joe knew Tad had finally met his perfect match in Dixie.

1990: Joe and Ruth were with Dixie Cooney on the day she was to marry Tad. But, Tad was nowhere to be found. Trevor arrived with devastating news. Billy Clyde Tuggle and Tad had gotten in altercation on a bridge when a bomb exploded causing the two to fall off into the icy river below. Joe knew just how volatile the river was at that exact point. When Billy Clyde’s dead body was found, Joe knew he had lost Tad too
.
1992: Joe helped Palmer over the phone when Opal went into labor. Peter Cortlandt was born in the middle of a huge snowstorm that engulfed Pine Valley.

1993: Brooke called Joe and Ruth with some amazing news: Tad was alive. Joe and Ruth went to meet him. They had no expectations after learning he was suffering from amnesia. But seeing his parents brought all his memories back. The Martins were finally reunited.

1994: A tornado destroyed the Martin home. In the rubble, Joe and Ruth found Tad. The ceiling had collapsed on him. The Martins did what they could to save their son. Tad survived the ordeal, but the Martin home was destroyed. Joe reached out to his wife, but even he could not console Ruth’s depression.

1995: Joe worried about Ruth’s growing depression. Joe hoped the completion of the new Martin home would lift her spirits. But, the new home only seemed to fuel her longing for the past. Tad, Dixie, and Charlie surprised them with a housewarming party with many of their family and friends. Each guest brought them a slew of photographs to make up for those they had lost in the tornado.
Charlie turned to Joe after his sister, Kate, ran away from home. They found Kate, now going by Kelsey, at a homeless shelter. Kelsey left Seattle after learning she was pregnant. Joe called Tara to come to Pine Valley immediately. Tara explained she had neglected Kelsey because her marriage was coming apart. Joe agreed to allow Kelsey to stay with him until Tara sorted out her personal affairs.

1996: Joe welcomed Joey, now going by Jake, back to Pine Valley. He was now a doctor and took up residency at Pine Valley Hospital. Joe was happy to have another one of his children working side by side with him again.

1997: Joe suffered a heart attack after a heated argument with Dimitri Marick. When Joe awoke, Ruth was by his bedside. The cardiac specialist asked Joe to take some time off. He began to relay on the new group of doctors at the hospital including his son, Jake, and Jeff’s star intern, Allie Doyle.

1998: Dr. David Hayward revealed that Allie had falsified her bachelor’s degree, putting her medical degree into question. Joe was forced to let Allie go from Pine Valley Hospital. He gave her a job working as a physician’s assistant at a local clinic.

1999: Joe became a grandfather again when Liza Colby gave birth to Colby Marian Chandler, Jake’s daughter. Or so it seemed. In reality, Colby was Adam Chandler’s child.
Dimitri died of a brain aneurism on his way back to Pine Valley. In his will, he donated funds to establish the Andrassy Foundation. He explicitly named his wife, Dr. Alex Marick, as a candidate to lead the foundation. But Alex wanted to return to England. Joe compromised, and named Alex and Dr. David Hayward to the foundation.

2000: Joe and Ruth spent time at the Crystal Ball reminiscing about their years together in Pine Valley.
Joe recognized that Jake’s new wife, Gillian Adrassy, had eyes for another man. Jake was missing in Chechnya where he was volunteering for doctors without borders. Ryan Lavery used funds from Incredibledreams.com to save Jake and bring him home.
Jake began working at Pine Valley Hospital again. Jake became suspicious about what happened on the Fidelity yacht that night of Incredibledreams.com’s launch party. Joe and Jake investigated Libidizone, a libido-enhancing drug. They realized David had been researching about the drug and was the likely culprit behind the drugging.

2001: Jake went to Joe with his suspicions about David. Joe began to think that Jake had become fixated on hurting David. Jake thought David was trying to poison Joe. In reality, Joe had sought treatment from David for his pre-existent heart condition.

2002: David reported Joe’s heart condition to the Hospital Board. While treating Joe’s condition, David took meticulous notes about Joe’s worsening health condition. He petitioned the Board for a no confidence vote so that he could become Chief of Staff. Joe stepped down before the Board had a chance to come to a decision. He then named Jake, and not David, as the new Chief of Staff.

2003: Joe was reinstated as Chief of Staff at Pine Valley Hospital when Jake suddenly left to rejoin Doctors Without Borders in Kenya.
Joe believed that Leora Hayward needed a second heart surgery. David was sure Leora was too weak to make it through surgery. Joe convinced Anna Devane to consent to the surgery. But the surgery was marred by complications. Leora would not make it through. David accused Joe of killing her Leora an act of revenge for all he had done to their family. Anna prevented David from poisoning the Martins with an amnesia-inducing drug.
Joe mentored Maria as she tried to become a doctor again. He offered Maria her old job at Pine Valley Hospital.

2004: Tad turned to Joe with his suspicions about JR and Babe Chandler’s baby, Bess Chandler. Tad asked Joe to run a secret DNA test. But, too many inconsistencies made the test worthless. Tad confided that he suspected Bess was actually Erica’s granddaughter, Miranda Montgomery, and not JR’s son.
When Babe found her real son alive in Llanview, she went on the run. Jamie offered to help her. Joe was saddened at the thought of never seeing his grandson again. Jamie surprised him with a Christmas phone call from their hiding spot in New Orleans.

2005: Jamie began working alongside Joe at Pine Valley Hospital. He wanted to be a doctor just like many in his family before him.
Maria arranged for Sam to move in with the Martins for the summer while she set up their new home in California. Sam wanted to learn more about his biological family.
Tad turned to Joe with his suspicions that Di Kirby, Little Adam’s new nanny, was Dixie. Di was being hospitalized for a heart condition similar to Dixie’s. Joe refused to run a DNA test without Di’s consent. The DNA test concluded Di was Dixie. Though Tad was hesitant, Joe hoped they would reunite for the sake of their sons.
But the good news was short-lived. Di was not Dixie, but her younger sister.

2006: Tad revealed Dr. Josh Madden was Jeff and Erica’s son. Dr. Greg Madden, who performed Erica’s abortion, had actually removed the fetus and implanted it in his own wife. Erica begged Joe to keep the secret from Josh. Joe told Erica he was telling Jeff the truth. If Jeff wanted Josh to be a part of his life, it was his choice. He took Josh under his wing at the Hospital. Josh and Jamie did not get along, frequently putting Joe in the middle of their conflicts.
The truth about Josh came out soon after Jeff returned to Pine Valley. Joe reached out to Josh after Greg was found buried alive. Little did he know, Tad was the culprit.

2007: Joe watched helplessly as Dixie died in his trauma room. She was the next victim of the Satin Slayer serial killer. Joe saw Tad sink into depression again.
Tad revealed he and Krystal were expecting a child. Jenny Martin was born to much fanfare in the Martin family. But as they gained a family member, Jamie decided to leave Pine Valley. He was going to join Jake in Africa with Doctors without Borders.
Joe’s toughest case had to do with Kendall Slater’s children, Spike Lavery and Ian Slater. Ian was born severely premature. Spike was brought into the hospital on the same day after a car accident. Tests showed Spike had lost his hearing. Erica begged Joe to save her grandchildren.
Joe acted as Tad’s sounding board about his new relationship with the mother of his child. Still, Joe was surprised with the news that Krystal and Tad decided to elope over Christmas.

2008: Joe asked Dr. Angie Hubbard back to Pine Valley to consult on a special case. Various people were being admitted to Pine Valley Hospital after ingesting a mysterious toxin in the woods. Among the victims was Dr. Frank Hubbard, Angie’s son. The ordeal brought Jesse Hubbard out of hiding. Angie accepted Joe’s invitation to rejoin the Pine Valley Hospital staff. Jake also rejoined the staff came back from Doctors Without Borders in Sudan.
Joe witnessed Robert Gardner go on a shooting tirade at the Hubbard wedding. Nurse Julia Keefer and Tad were among the victims. Jake and Joe tried to save both victims. Only Tad would make it through the night. In the aftermath, Adam revealed Julia’s foster daughter, Kathy Mershon, was in fact Tad and Dixie’s long lost daughter Kate.
A tornado came crashing though Pine Valley. The devastation left the Hospital in shambles. David came back to town and saw his opportunity to take over. Joe was staying with Tara to help her after she had surgery. In his absence, Jake lied to the authorities about the whereabouts of a patient, AWOL army officer Brot Monroe. David threatened to turn Jake into the police if Joe did not step down as Chief-of-Staff and name him as his successor. Joe agreed to protect his son.
Jeff and Jamie went missing in the Congo. Joe sent Tad to look for the missing Martins. Joe did not know that David had staged their disappearance to further split up the Martins.