James S. Marshall, 91, of Overland Park, Kansas, passed away on May 14, 2019.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Orange, Texas. Officiating will be Father Joseph Daleo. Burial will follow at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Orange.

Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, May 19, 2019, at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange, Texas.

James was the son of Lawrence Ellis Marshall and Grace Doyle Marshall. James was born in Orange, Texas on October 2, 1927.  As soon as he could ride a bike, he was delivering papers at 5:00 am for 2 cents a copy. Life was pretty uninventable until Dec 7, 1941.

With his dad’s permission he lied about his age and enlisted into the Navy at the age of 15.

He was shipped out to San Diego, graduated from boot camp, and set sail for the South Pacific.  He arrived in the Solomon Islands as the battle of Guadalcanal was raging.  To get out of kitchen duty, he volunteered to be on the crew of a PT boat picking up wounded Marines who were fighting on the beaches. While picking up a group of the Marines who were pinned down near Bougainville, he was shot in the shoulder returning fire manning the 50 caliber machine gun.

His crew rescued The Marines, and he spent two weeks recovering before he insisted upon re-joining his crew.  He was 16 years old when he received The Purple Heart.

After the war, he returned home and married Barbara Rose Wingate of Orange and was brought into the family business of the Wingate Brothers Meat Market. They had four daughters, Lumea, Melanie, Jennifer and Jade.

He worked and retired from the Chevron Chemical Plant in Orange. During this time he enjoyed taking his family to the beach, Cow Creek, or crabbing. In his spare time he could be found fishing on the Sabine Lake or one of many of his favorite fishing spots.  To sum of his life, he was very generous in helping those in need.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Grace Marshall; and brothers, Lawrence and Michael.

James is survived by his children, Lumea Brady Marshall, Melanie Cox Marshall, Jennifer Trahan Marshall, and Jade Gough Marshall; 21 grandchildren; 44 great-grandchildren; and his brother, Pat Marshall.

We would like to thank Rita Copper and her family for the love and support they had given our dad over the years.

Our dad was a Resident at the Bishop Spencer Place in Missouri for many years. We cannot begin to thank all the staff for the exceptional and fantastic care they provided for him.

 

In the final hours of his life, we’d like to thank Kathy G in assisting my dad in making sure all his final comforts were in place. Also our thanks to Fr Justin Nolan for coming over in the middle of the night to give the last rites so he could have a happy and holy death.