Obituary for Michael Marsh, Sr.

Michael Marsh, Sr. died suddenly at home in Brooklyn Center after going into cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of December 22^nd. He was only 72 years old.

Michael was born on June 17^th 1950 to Monroe and Alice Marsh, on their farm in Staples, Minnesota. He was raised on the family homestead on the Crow Wing River. After graduating from Staples High School in 1968, Michael was drafted into the Army to serve his country during the Vietnam War. He was stationed stateside as a radar instructor during the war. He served active duty for 16 months, and an additional five years in the reserves. Michael was a proud veteran who loved his country.

On April 24^th, 1971, Mike married the love of his life, Christine Kemp, also from Staples. Theirs was a great romance—an epic love story that most of us only encounter in poetry or song. The two of them raised four children: eldest daughter Jennifer, firstborn son Michael Jr., and identical twins Justin and Josh. In April 2015, just three days after their 44^th anniversary, Mike tragically lost Christine to complications from lung cancer. She was 62.

For the next seven plus years, Mike mourned Christine every day. He retired from Sun Chemical shortly after her passing, where he was a lab technician/color matcher for many years. Mike enjoyed spending time with his family, playing guitar, hanging out with his springer spaniel Trudy, and spending time on the Crow Wing River, near the homestead where he was born, on the ancestral estate his family affectionately refers to as “Marshland.” Mike loved his family immensely. He was proud of the children and the grand/great grandchildren he shared with his bride—there was a twinkle in his eye as he doted on them, to his very last day.

Mike is survived by his children, Jennifer (Jason) Barg, Michael (Shelley) Marsh Jr., Justin (Maran) Marsh, and Joshua (Erika) Marsh, as well as his siblings, Pete (Jean) Marsh, Patt (Curt) Browning, Tim (Colleen) Marsh, Cindy Lou Chase, and Dave (Cindy) Marsh; along with 12 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his wife Christine, his sister Karen, and his parents Alice and Monroe.

A memorial service will take place on Wednesday, January 18^th at Evans-Nordby Funeral Home, 6000 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Center, MN, 55429. Visitation will begin at 12pm, with service starting at 1pm. You may watch the livestream of the service at this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82913568063?pwd=d1pFaE5HTm5YWTlraWMranBiRG9KUT09

The family will also be honoring their father with full military honors at Camp Ripley at 1pm on Monday, April 24^th, 2023, which would have been their parents’ 52^nd wedding anniversary; the children will be spreading their parents’ ashes at Marshland later this spring. In lieu of flowers, the family ask that you make a memorial donation in their father’s honor.