Martin Thomas Purser, 56, died Jan. 7, 2016, in Renton, Wash., following a long battle with multiple sclerosis.

He was born Aug. 30, 1959, in San Jose, Calif., the youngest of seven children born to Katherine Adams Purser and John C. Purser. The family enjoyed the outdoors, so his childhood was filled with picnics, camping trips and adventures with his father and older brother. He loved pie and, by the age of 8, was baking pumpkin pies from scratch. Before becoming ill, he was married for several years to Tammy Lawrence and supervised a chemical laboratory for a high-tech company in the Silicon Valley. He loved astronomy and science fiction as well as playing chess, swimming and driving his convertible on mountain roads. In 2002 he moved to Renton, Wash., to be near his sister Elizabeth Hendricks of Enumclaw, who managed his care.

Aside from his sister Elizabeth, he is survived by siblings Barbara Voreis of Kaysville, Utah, Margo Faccini of Layton, Utah, Deborah Newell of Kalispell, Mont., Ellen Purser-Jones of Bozeman, Mont., and John Purser of Durango, Colo.

A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at City View Church, 200 S.W. Langston Rd., in Renton.