John Seawell Marsh

John Seawell Marsh passed away in Winston Salem, North Carolina on April 1, 2025. He was born in Guilford County, North Carolina on February 12, 1932, the son of David Branson Marsh and Ruth Seawell Marsh. John grew up on a farm in Randolph County, and graduated from Randleman High School. He graduated from Berea College as valedictorian in 1954, and attended graduate school in English at Princeton University on a merit scholarship. He left Princeton to serve in the United States Air Force, afterward earning a Master of Library Science from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor from New York University. He resided in New York City from 1960 until 2019, working many of those years as head law librarian at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP. John was a voracious reader. He completed multiple readings of the body of work of Henry James and Anthony Trollope, who were among his favorite authors. He was an avid collector of rare books, and he generously contributed to the personal libraries of his friends and family. He was a talented pianist, and a devotee of classical music. He formed lasting relationships with his colleagues, who remained his devoted friends long after his retirement. As a teenager, he became a faithful correspondent to his great aunt, and he kept up the habit of writing eloquent letters into his later years, including a seventy-year correspondence with a friend from Berea College. John was predeceased by his parents, his brother James D. Marsh and sister-in-law Mary, and his sister Katherine and brother-in-law Otis Shepherd. He is survived by his nieces Joyce Marsh (Jerry Feist) of Trumansburg, NY and Ruth Marsh Kirk ( Don) of Winston Salem, NC; his nephews David Shepherd (Susan) of Belmont, Charles Shepherd (Natalie) of Claremont, Joe Shepherd of Gastonia, and James W. Marsh (Lisa) of Wendell; and many great nieces and nephews. John was a longtime parishioner of the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Stephen Catholic Church, 101 Hawthorne Road in Elkin, North Carolina, with burial in Elkin's Hollywood Cemetery on Wednesday, April 9 at 11:00 a.m. The family expresses our gratitude to the wonderful staff at Forest Heights Senior Living Community in Winston Salem who provided loving care for John during his last years. In lieu of flowers, donations in John's memory to Berea College or the charity of the donor's choice are welcome. John Kennedy, funeral director is assisting the Marsh family with funeral arrangement. Online condolences may be made at www.jkennedyfsl.com.