Daniel S. Marshall ’47

Daniel S. Marshall ’47, 84, died July 29 at his residence in Arden, N.C. Marshall was born on March 31, 1926, in Charlotte, N.C., to Hunter and Julia Adelaide Marshall. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949. Returning to Charlotte, he married Joan Cansler in 1950 and held several jobs in the fields of business and finance, eventually becoming the business manager and treasurer at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE) in Richmond, Va. However, Marshall came to realize that his true interest was in teaching and guiding young people, and he returned to school to earn a master’s in education from the University of Richmond in 1965. He spent the remainder of his career teaching math and psychology on the high school level and working as a counselor. After a number of years at John Marshall High School in Richmond, he went on to teach at Woodberry Forest School, also in Virginia, and A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C., before retiring in 1986. He was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education. Although his influence on hundreds of students over the years was incalculable, Marshall’s teaching career was just one of the ways in which he affected the lives of those around him. His combination of a gentle nature with a fierce passion for justice could be seen early on during his years at PSCE, when he insisted that the women on the school’s faculty receive salaries and benefits equal to those of the men. He was always engaged in the issues of the day through his writing, speaking, and activism, whether the cause was civil rights, the environment, or opposition to war. More recently Marshall, along with his wife Joan, became active in the struggle for equal rights and dignity for gay men and lesbians and people with AIDS, through their leadership in organizations such as CLOSER and P-FLAG. He was always active in church work-again, with a special emphasis on working with young people-whether as a Presbyterian, a Quaker, or most recently, as a member of the Episcopal Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville. Marshall had a lifelong enthusiasm for music and the beauty of the outdoors. He enjoyed playing the piano and organ from an early age, and occasionally played for weddings and funerals. He spent much of his summers, both as a child and an adult, in the North Carolina mountains, and thus considered it a kind of “homecoming” when he moved to Montreat with his family full-time in 1972. He enjoyed exploring the mountains in one of several beloved Jeeps that he owned over the years. He believed in engaging in life in a positive manner, and was convinced that difficulties were best met with a sense of humor and plenty of chocolate. Marshall was preceded in death by his wife, Joan; his son, Scott; and his brothers, Hunter, Charles ’41, and Doug. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Bezubek (Felix), 116 Swiss Stone Ct., Cary, NC 27513-4753; his daughter, Carolyn Brodersen (Edward); his son, David Marshall (Sarah); his daughter, Kate Marshall; and a number of nieces and nephews. He is also survived by a large number of friends and former students who will remember and value how he lived his life governed by his motto of “love, laughter, and learning.”