EAST BUTLER — Friends and acquaintances on Monday remembered James S. Martin as an avid dog lover and dedicated member of kennel clubs in this region.

Martin, who was stabbed to death in his Tenth Street home sometime Saturday morning, had lived in the area for more than 30 years according to friends and family members. He purchased his home in East Butler in 2006, according to real estate transactions published in the Butler Eagle.

Chuck Swidzinski, a local real estate agent who said Monday that he was acting as executor of Martin’s will, said Martin also spent part of the year living in Florida.

Lee Herr, a friend of Martin’s from Wampum in Lawrence County, who now lives in Arizona, called Martin, whom he first met at dog handling classes in 1982, a friendly and helpful person. Herr ran the New Castle Kennel Club for many years, and recommended Martin take over the club in 2006, when he stepped down from his post there.

“He was a nice guy,” Herr said. “He went out of his way to help everyone.”

In addition to being a member of the Butler County Kennel Club for more than 30 years, Martin also served as a leader at the New Castle Kennel Club, according to Sue Chapin, the Butler club’s president. Listed officers for the New Castle club did not respond to messages seeking information on Martin’s involvement with the club.

With the Butler club, Chapin said, Martin served as a show chairman in addition to his duties as a licensed judge with the American Kennel Club. Martin’s judging duties took him to dog shows across the country, she said, adding that Martin’s death was a blow to the region’s dog clubs and dog lovers in general.

“It’s going to be, for the dog community in general, a tremendous loss,” Chapin said.

The Canine Chronicle, a publication which focuses on dog events and news for the dog community, published the news of Martin’s slaying and offered its condolences on Sunday.

“Jim Martin was a respected and knowledgeable AKC judge of the Sporting Group and Best in Show,” the publication wrote in a brief published online on Jan. 1. “He will be remembered for his kind demeanor and great sense of humor.”

Jeff Double of Chicora, the cousin of Martin’s life partner, Bob Double, who died more than a decade ago, said Martin would be remembered by the family for his sense of humor, loving character and dedication to dogs.

“We got to experience what genuine love and compassion was all about,” Double said of Martin’s character. “His love for his family and friends truly brought light to everyone around him. He was just one of those people that, when he walked into a room, there wasn’t a dark cloud to be found.”

Martin and Bob Double trained and showed Manchester Terriers for many years, Jeff Double said, and ran their own business with an in-house groomer, trainer and staff to care for the dogs they showed. The pair were so attached to their animals, said Jeff Double, that they often cremated the pets and kept their remains with them

“They were seriously the dictionary explanation of pet lover,” Double said. “They were committed.”

Double said he will most remember Martin’s “inappropriate” sense of humor, which, for him, always hit the mark.

“His sense of humor was unmatched by any other person that I’ve met,” Double said. “He had the most inappropriate sense of humor that was always appropriate for the situation.”

Bob Double died after suffering a massive heart attack on the grounds of the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Dog Show in New York, where he was participating as a dog handler, according to family and friends.

Bob Double’s niece, Donna Baily, called Martin “a great guy,” but declined to speak about him in detail.

“We really will miss him,” she said.

Jeff Double said that the tragic, unexpected deaths of both Double and Martin were shocking to the couple’s friends and family

“He (Martin) was such a gentle person; a gentle soul and so funny,” Double said. “To be taken in such a violent manner is so disrespectful. It’s just so hard to process.”