Marsha Hall Brown

Marsha passed away at Inland Valley Hospital in Murrieta, CA. She had all of her California family with her and the ICU nurses and doctors were marvelous maintaining her life support. Her hemorrhaging stroke prevented her from being conscious but we all had plenty of time to hold her, hug her, and talk to her before she passed in her blonde wig and favorite sweatshirt.

Marsha's childhood was during WW2 and her fondest memories were when her father, a naval officer, would bring home a class of sailors for a backyard cookout with ice cream. As a girl barely in her teens, Marsha started exhibiting her family's beloved breed of dog, the English Setter.

Her father, Thomas Hall, started the Stone Gables Kennels named after their family home in Greenville, Rhode Island and one of the first dogs that Marsha began to show was "Vivacious Sally." Marsha's skill at handling her Setter earned her the American Kennel Club's Championship Certificate and was awarded 15 points in the Winners Classics. On August 7, 1954, Vivacious Sally became Stone Gables number one AKC Champion of Record. This achievement also earned Marsha Girl Show Fancier of 1955. This was the first of many awards earned by Marsha through her lifelong career as a certified AKC Show Dog Handler and for years after, as a renowned AKC Show Dog Judge. Fifty years into her illustrious career in dogs, Marsha retired from judging after judging Best In Show at the prestigious Palm Spring All Breed Show in Indio, CA in 2018.

Marsha graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in June 1956 in Providence, Rhode Island. After high school, Marsha entered Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. She majored in Physical Education and earned American Red Cross Lifesaving and Swimming certificates.

In September 1957, she married Robert Scott Brown. After active duty in the US Navy they settled down in North Providence while Robert completed his apprenticeship in machine tool drafting. Marsha and her family, including daughters Elizabeth and Bethny, moved to Union, New Jersey. This was the first of several career moves which Marsha faithfully supported. She always was eager to be a great mom and salesman's loyal wife, providing endless support during Robert's 58 year career in machine tools.

Like her mother, Marsha was a lifelong Girl Scout leader eventually becoming a Girl Scout Cadet leader. She also continued her education and went back to school in 1980 earning her BA in Speech Communications and eventually earned her Masters Degree from Cal State Fullerton in 1991. With her degree on the wall of her office, she embarked on a 25 year career teaching speech communications, intercultural communications, and debate at numerous colleges and universities across Southern California. After her retirement in 2016, she wrote a children's book about show dogs in New England called Show Dogs Escape to the Seashore and a book about her seafaring ancestors called Under Sun, Stars, and Sails - A Whaling Life at Sea.

Marsha was an active member of Rotary and a proud member of the Paul Harris Fellow program. She joined the DAR Luiseno Chapter and was a proud philanthropist to the Nantucket Historical Association and the Santa Rosa Plateau Nature Education Foundation.

Marsha will be deeply missed and will remain in our hearts. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, her daughters, Elizabeth and Bethny, her son, Robert, and her grandchildren, Scott, Anna, Alex, and Matthew.

A celebration of life will take place at her home in Murrieta, California on September 9, 2023. Anyone interested in honoring Marsha's memory may make a donation to the Santa Rosa Nature Education Foundation at https://the-nef.org/donate/.