REV. PETER J. MARSHALL
January 21, 1940 ~ September 8, 2010
It is with enormous sadness that we announce the sudden death of our father, the Reverend Peter J. Marshall, on Wednesday evening in Orleans, Massachusetts. He was 70 years old.
Born on January 21, 1940, Peter John Marshall was the son of the Scottish minister, Dr. Peter Marshall, who became pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, in 1937 and was appointed twice as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, serving from January 1947 until his sudden death at the age of 46.
Dad's mother, Catherine Marshall, wrote the best-selling biography of her husband entitled A Man Called Peter. This book was later made into an Oscar-nominated film of the same title (1955) in which dad was portrayed as a young child by the actor Billy Chapin. Our grandmother went on to write over 20 books, including many editions of her husband's sermons, several inspirational books, and the best-selling novel Christy.
A graduate of Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA, our father attended Yale University where he sang in the Yale Glee Club and earned a bachelor's degree in history. He then entered Princeton Theological Seminary from which he was graduated in 1965 and ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church, USA. For the next twelve years, he served pastorates in West Hartford, CT, and East Dennis, MA. Since 1977, he had devoted himself to a nationwide ministry of preaching, teaching and writing. He co-authored three best-selling books-The Light and The Glory, From Sea to Shining Sea, and Sounding Forth the Trumpet.
Rev. Marshall is survived by his children, Mary Elizabeth Marshall, Peter Jonathan Marshall, and David Christopher Marshall, two step-brothers, Chester LeSourd of Chattanooga, TN, and Jeffrey LeSourd of Lincoln, VA, a step-sister, Linda LeSourd Lader of Washington, DC, and Charleston, SC, and three grandchildren. Our mother, Edith Marshall Roberts, also survives.
The Rite of Christian Burial will take place on Monday, September 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of the Transfiguration, 5 Bay View Drive, Rock Harbor, in Orleans, MA. Interment follows in the Orleans Cemetery.