Stanley Alfred Marsh   - July 6, 1935 ~ October 8, 2017

Stan was born to Alfred Stanley Marsh and Evelyn Ruth (Leyde) Marsh on July 6, 1935 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. One year and 11 months, later Robert Leyde Marsh completed the family. Alfred and Evelyn raised their sons in northern and southern Idaho.  When the boys were eleven and nine years old, they were sent to live with their maternal grandparents, Bob and Jesse Leyde. They lived in the small town of Malden, which was a division point for the Milwaukee R.R.  They went to school three miles down the track at Pine City. Since Pine City was a small high school, the boys managed to play two years of first team varsity football, basketball and baseball together, even though Stan was blind in one eye and Bob was bigger, better and younger; it was an experience they both treasured.  Upon graduation Bob went into the military and Stan went off to college. To his surprise and the surprise of many others, he became an honor student. He got a full-time job working as a ward attendant at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake. His academic record was so good he was allowed to take an extra heavy course load. He received his B.Ed.  and K-12 teaching certificate from Eastern Washington College of Education.  Through the following years he did graduate and post-graduate studies at Eastern Washington College of Education, Washington State University, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon and the University of Cincinnati, from which he earned degrees, credentials, and certificates. His first teaching job was for Pullman Public Schools, where he taught in a regular classroom and travelled between elementary schools teaching Spanish. He transferred to Spokane Public Schools and taught ninth grade language arts/social studies and Spanish at Salk Jr. High School and English and Spanish at Ferris High school. He first taught at Hanford Secondary School in Richland, Washington within a program to prevent students from dropping out.  During its operation, the staff of this special course failed to graduate only one student, who later earned a GED. At Hanford he taught Spanish and the senior English electives of Shakespeare (his favorite), social protest literature (his second favorite), and, among other great writers such as Camus and Sartre, he got to teach some extraordinary writings by Americas honored big three: Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and some poems by his favorite Americans: Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens. Once, there was a vacancy in the social studies department, and as he had an undergraduate major in social sciences, he got to teach one of his favorite subjects: the history of Russia, and two of his favorite literary works: Leo Tolstoy’s  “War and Peace” and Boris Pasternak’s “Dr. Zhivago.” He was a Professor of English Education at Regina University, Saskatchewan, Canada; his favorite position. While in Texas he was adjunct professor of linguists for the Texas State Department of Education. Later, he was adjunct and visiting professor at Central Washington University, and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He was also the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Wichita Falls Public Schools in Wichita Falls, Texas and later became the Director of Curriculum for the Richland Public Schools, Richland, Washington. He ended his public career as the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education for the public schools in Cincinnati, Ohio. Of all things in his life, he loved and was most proud of his family.  He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara in 1953. She was his great friend, lover and was the best Mom and Grandmother. They celebrated 60 years of marriage together. Barbara gave him five loving, empathetic and handsome children; Sheryl, Vickie, Stan Jr., Virginia, and Barbara Lee. They brought him son-in-law's, Larry, Mitch, Bob and John; two daughter-in-law's, Stacey and Danielle, who then combined to bring him grandchildren: Samantha, Erica, Nicole, Rebecca, Derrik, Syvanna , Ben, Bryson, Trevor, Vale and Cassandra.  Great-grandchildren: Summer, Richard, Lawrence, Anastasia, Mason-Mitchel and Jace have added more love to the family. Stan’s brother, Bob, his wife Gaynell, their daughter Toni, and sons Bobby, Scott and Chris were also very loved. Second, he was proudest of the contributions he was able to make for the integration of public school while in Texas and Ohio, especially in the cities of Wichita Falls and Cincinnati. Third, he was extremely proud of courses in descriptive and historical linguistics created for both his undergraduate and graduate university students. He enjoyed most, teaching Shakespeare, Social Protest Literature, and science fiction at Hanford High school. His children (especially Stan Jr. and Sheryl) taught him to play tennis after age forty. Even blind in one eye, he went on to win a few trophies for his age groups and his USTA rankings. He then became a junior high and high school tennis coach. One year he even coached with his son, Stan Jr., as his assistant. He served as President of the Pullman Teachers, as a second Vice-President for the Spokane Teachers Union and represented Spokane on the Board of Directors of the Department of Classroom Teachers of Washington State Teachers Union. He also served three times as President of the Richland Teachers Union. He was University’s representative to the Association of University Professors while in Canada and also served as an advisor to the Danforth Foundation in St. Louis and to the Ford Educational Foundation in New York.

All the worlds’ a stage,

And all the men and women merely players,

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.

As You Like It Act. ll, Sc, 7, 139-142

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew then how we will.

Hamlet Act V, Sc 2, 10-11

How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

The Merchant of Venice Act V, Sc 1, 90-91

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