William H. “Bill” Marshall, of Williamsburg and late of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, died peacefully a week before his 91st birthday.
Bill was born and grew up on a hardscrabble farm outside Cincinnati, Ohio, where he learned the meaning of hard work and self-reliance. Bill’s keen intelligence earned him an undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1953, a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1955, and an EdD from Columbia University in 1960. He spent his career in academia, retiring from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990 after serving as Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Director of the School of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences.
His beloved wife of 64 years, Nancy, predeceased Bill on July 22, 2018. Nancy had been dean of university libraries at the College of William & Mary. The Nancy H. Marshall A Visit from St. Nicholas Collection is exhibited each holiday season in the Earl Gregg Swem Library.
Bill and Nancy’s ashes were interred together August 6, 2022, in the columbarium at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. They are survived by their four children, Bruce (Richardson, TX); Gregg (Kirkland, WA); Lisa (Cape Elizabeth, ME); and Jeanine (Durham, NC); and by seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Donations may be made to the Thomas Memorial Library Foundation (thomasmemorialfoundation.org) in honor of Nancy H. and William H. Marshall.
