William 'Bill' Marshall

On Friday, January 23, 2015, having struggled against pancreatic cancer, William "Bill"
Marshall of Cleveland moved through death from serving his family, friends, and country
throughout his lifetime to meet his son, Nathan Karl Marshall, and to continue their eternal lives together as father and son.
Born November 18, 1942 in Pensacola, Bill and his family moved to College Park where he
resided until entering North Georgia College. After graduating as a commissioned officer in
the U.S.Army, he served both in Germany and in Viet Nam. While in Germany, he married
Glenda Hurston, with dual ceremonies in both Switzerland and Germany. Returning from his
tour of duty in Viet Nam, he completed advanced degrees at Georgia State and the University of Georgia.
Bill taught school for five years in Fairburn and one year in Habersham County before moving
to Cleveland where he served as a teacher and administrator for the White County School
System from 1973 until retiring after more than thirty years of service to students. Continuing his lifetime of service, Bill then chose to represent America as a member of the State Department for seven years, beginning in 2001, stationed first in Surinam and later in Germany.
Bill's legacy of love and care survives through his wife, Glenda, his mother, Mary Wanda Marshall, age 98, his two daughters and sons-in-law, Anna and Mitch Whitmire and Leigh and Ben Corley, his four grandchildren, Rosemary Claire Whitmire, Ashley Whitmire Skinner, Ethan Benjamin Corley, and Bowen Nicole Corley, and his great-grandsons, Taylor and Greyson Skinner, along with his sister and brother-in-law, Marnie and Jimmy Brown of Birmingham, Alabama, and his brother, James Randolph Marshall, of Gainesville.

He served God with his friends and family at Cleveland United Methodist Church where he
loved singing as a member of the church choir, and he served our community through the Rotary
Club, the Truett-McConnell and the Sautee-Nacoochee Community Chorales, and as a member
and past president of Kiwanis.

His students remember him as a compassionate teacher and administrator, the sponsor of VOCA
and DCT programs, as "The Pink Panther" for whom they painted paw prints leading to his
parking space, and even as the bus driver for field trips on weekends.

At home and in his barn, Bill enjoyed working as a blacksmith, a gardener, and a woodworker,
passing on his skills to his children. Anna, Nathan, and Leigh knew him as their "Santa," who hand-made many of their Christmas toys, as "Dad" who organized family camping trips on
the Chattahoochee River, as an honest and gentle counselor who wrote loving notes he often left to guide his children, and as the father who surrounded them with a feeling of security, knowing that they could depend on him as he patiently taught them about life. His mother, Mary, remembers him as her "Sweet William." William (Bill) Marshall's memorial service will be held Saturday, January 31st at Cleveland United Methodist Church at 11:00 AM, with visitation with his family at the church on Friday, January 30th between 4:00 and 7:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the music department of Cleveland United Methodist Church or to Hospice of Northeast Georgia. To share a memory of Bill or to send a condolence, please visit www.alexanderfuneral.com. Alexander Funeral Home of Cleveland in charge of arrangements (706)865-1500