THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507160026
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
John F. Marshall Jr., a retired businessman and long-time community leader, died Saturday, July 15, 1995, at 2:01 a.m. at Virginia Beach General Hospital. He was 83.
Marshall was born in Norfolk, Sept. 20, 1911, and lived most of his adult life in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. In his later years he was active in community affairs and causes, particularly environmental protection. He is survived by his wife and four children. He was a member of Galilee Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach.
Raised in Ghent, he was the son of John F. Marshall Sr. and Bessie Grandy Marshall. He was the grandson of Albert H. Grandy, who founded The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in 1898, and was its first publisher and editor in chief.
As a boy, Marshall attended Blair Junior High School and Norfolk Academy. He was graduated from Woodberry Forest High School in Orange, Va. in 1930, and from the University of Virginia in 1934. He spent six months in Spain in 1934 and 1935, a trip that led him to eventually study the language seriously. He served four years in the Navy during World War II, including three overseas in the Pacific. He left active service with the rank of lieutenant. In 1949, he enrolled to study Spanish at the University of Texas in Austin, where he met his future wife, Eleanor Jackson, a native of Lubbock, Tx.
After receiving his masters degree in Spanish in 1952, Marshall taught high school and college before returning to the Norfolk area in 1956. He and his family settled in the newly founded suburb of Bay Colony in Virginia Beach. In 1957, he started the Marshall Rambler automobile dealership on 17th Street, which he operated until the late 1960s.
Marshall was active in civic affairs in his last decades. He was instrumental in creating the 24th Street Park, as well as the neighboring Life-Saving Museum of Virginia. He was a strong supporter of numerous cultural and community resources, including the Virginia Beach chapter of the National Audubon Society, the Virginia Beach Sports Club, the Virginia Symphony, The Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, WHRO public television and the Virginia Beach Foundation.
In his later years, Marshall suffered from heart disease. He died Saturday of heart failure.
He is survived by his wife Eleanor Jackson Marshall, and their four children, Jane Marshall Bashara of Norfolk, John Francis Marshall III of Carrboro, N.C., Elizabeth Grandy Marshall of Albany, N.Y., Alexander Campbell Marshall of Norfolk, and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Galilee Episcopal Church at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Pacific Avenue and 40th Street. In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorial contributions be made to the Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, or a favorite charity.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB