Dr. David Samuel Marshall II

March 26, 2011

Dr. David Samuel Marshall II, Pottsville, passed away peacefully Friday morning at Seton Manor, Orwigsburg.

Born in 1916 in Ashland, he was a son of the late S. Lewis and Anna Burkert Marshall. He had a brother, Donald, and a sister, Mary.

He went to Upper Darby High School and graduated in 1934. He attended Temple University, Philadelphia, for his bachelor of science degree and graduated from Temple Medical School in 1940.

Board-certified in cardiology, Dr. Marshall was a member of the American Medical Association, the Pennsylvania Medical Society and the Schuylkill County Medical Society, where he served a term as president. He was the first doctor in the area to use vector echo-cardiograms.

Dr. Marshall served in the Army as a major in the Pacific Theater and was featured in a Newsweek article for his service in occupied Japan.

Upon returning from the war, he married his childhood sweetheart, Helen Rhoads Laubenstein, in 1946.

Making a choice between being "a small fish in a big sea or a big fish in a small pond," he moved to Pottsville and established a medical practice. He partnered with Wilton Glenney and later formed a partnership with Ross Rissmiller in 1972 that eventually grew into a large medical group still practicing today. An "old-fashioned doctor," he was totally committed to his patients, responding to calls throughout the night to come to a home or to attend to a patient in the hospital.

Dr. Marshall had a strong commitment to working with the poor. He served as a physician at free clinics at Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, for years. He supervised interns there as well. He also sat on the board of directors at Pottsville Hospital.

Dr. Marshall faced a difficult choice between becoming an artist or entering medical school. He chose medical school. However, he retained an avid interest in painting and spent extensive summer vacations painting plein air landscapes and taking courses to hone his artistic skills. He produced many paintings, one of which, depicting a scene in the Ringtown Valley, is currently hung in Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street, the former Pottsville Hospital. Every year, he created holiday cards depicting various scenes in Pottsville. He served as a member of the board of directors of Allied Artists of Schuylkill County.

He enjoyed an enormous knowledge of classical music acquired, in part, for attending concerts by the Philadelphia Orchestra when he was a student. One of his great pleasures in life was listening to Richard Wagner at full orchestral volume. He also had a passionate interest in rock gardening, especially with tuberose begonias, and was an avid disciple of Julia Child.

Dr. Marshall is survived by two sons, Robert Carl Marshall, Pottsville, and David Samuel Marshall, Boston; a granddaughter, Zoe Marshall, Little Falls, N.J.; a grandson, David Lucas Marshall, Bethlehem; a great-grandson, Giovanni Marshall, Little Falls, N.J.; nieces and nephews in California and New Jersey. He also is survived by seven high school foreign exchange students whom he fervently loved: Mustafa Erguney, Turkey, Bjorn Holm, Sweden, Enrico Cucchiani, Italy, J.O. Nielson, Denmark, Marie Lidon Rousseau, France, Noor Dosty, Afghanistan, and Luchy Swanwick, United Kingdom.

The family will be accepting condolences between 6 and 8 p.m. Friday at Lord-Bixler Funeral Home Inc., 1818 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, and again between 10 and 11 a.m. Saturday at United Presbyterian Church, 214 Mahantongo St., Pottsville. The church service will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday. In lieu of flowers, memorial funds have been established at Hillside SPCA, P.O. Box 233, Pottsville PA 17901, and United Presbyterian Church for the church building fund. The church memorial funds will be used to help restore the stained glass windows in the church. Checks to the SPCA should be made out to the SPCA Memorial Fund. Checks to the church building fund should be made out to United Presbyterian Church. Checks/donations to either should indicate on the comment line that it is to be for the Dr. Marshall memorial fund. Lord-Bixler Funeral Home Inc. is in charge of arrangements.