David E. Marshall

David Epps Marshall, 88, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wi, passed away at home on May 15, 2023. He was born May 9, 1935, to Epps McCord Marshall and Elena Lowe Marshall in Blackfoot, Idaho. He attended public schools in Blackfoot and graduated from high school in June 1953. He went on to study at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, then transferred to the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he graduated in June 1953 with a degree in electrical engineering.

While in college he worked summers for the U.S. Forest Service surveying and overseeing the construction of Forest Service roads in central Idaho. Following graduation, he worked for the Aerospace Division of the Boeing Company and after four years moved to Minneapolis, MN to work for Research, Inc. While in Minneapolis, he met and married Judy Koop of Wisconsin Rapids in 1967. They moved to Kent, WA where he resumed working for Boeing Aerospace until he retired in 1998. David enjoyed his work in the test lab where he worked on various projects, among which were running tests on the Lunar Lander and being part of the team that set up computer controls for scheduling ship passage through the Panama Canal.

David always had cats he treasured. He also had a lifelong love of rock collecting that began in 1947 when he saw an Idaho agate display by the Blackfoot School Superintendent. The first agate he collected that year still is in his collection. In retirement, he was able to go to Montana, Eastern Oregon, and Idaho to search for agates and jaspers. He enjoyed rebuilding lapidary equipment and teaching others the skills of cutting and polishing stones, and was past president of the Heart of Wisconsin Gem and Mineral Society. He was skilled in many crafts, including laying the wood and tile flooring in the home he built after he retired and moved to Wisconsin.

David is survived by his wife of 55 years, Judy, his sister, Anita Smirch of Challis Idaho, nieces Lee Ann Shaw and Leah Rykaczewski, and nephews James Smirch and Marshall Webber, sisters-in-law Kathleen (Chris) Osborne and Patricia Gregory (Nancy Cole). David was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Mary Lee Webber.

A Celebration of Life will be from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at Herman-Taylor Funeral Home in Wisconsin Rapids.

 In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be donated to the institution of your choice.

Special thanks to the Aspirus Home Help and Hospice team for their tender, loving care, as well as to the staff at DaVita Dialysis Center.

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