May 23, 2015 2 min read

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Marty Sheets, a pioneer in Special Olympics and member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, died. He was 62 years old.

According to Forbis & Dick Funeral Service, Sheets died Thursday at the Greensboro home he shared with his parents.

“Over the years, so many people have told us how much Marty has meant to them,” his father, David Sheets, told the Greensboro News & Record. “Marty touched a lot of people in his lifetime. He’s been a good, good person. And for us, the great thing about it is, even with all the accolades and awards, he’s always just been Marty – a nice guy.”

Sheets, who weighed less than 5 pounds when he was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome, won seven medals in swimming, golf, powerlifting, skiing and tennis at six Special Olympics World Games, starting with the inaugural games at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 1968. His total medal count over 42 years in local, state, national and world competitions exceeded 250.

He is featured in a portrait of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver that hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

In 2000, he was awarded the state’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. A longtime volunteer at the Wyndham Championship, he was the PGA Tour’s 2006 national volunteer of the year.

Sheets was inducted into the state’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and remains the only Special Olympic athlete honored there.

Don Fish, the hall’s executive director, called Sheets’ induction one of the hall’s proudest moments.

“His achievements were extraordinary. His spirit was amazing,” he told The News & Observer of Raleigh.

“When his father placed his Hall of Fame ring on his finger, everyone there was touched.”

Sheets worked 38 years for Macy’s department store. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, and his health deteriorated.

Sheets is survived by his parents, two sisters, nephews and cousins.

A funeral was held Saturday afternoon in Greensboro.