Woodrow Marsh

Woodrow Marsh was born on July 2, 1922, to William Thomas Marsh and Sarah Myra Loveless in Twillingate, Newfoundland. He was the sixth of seven children.

Woody was raised in the Salvation Army and served as a soldier his entire life. His father was commissioned as an officer in 1906, serving ten different towns and villages in Newfoundland and numerous others on the Canadian mainland. Woodrow began playing cornet in the corps band at age 7, a practice he continued into his late 70s, ultimately with the Dallas Temple Corps under the guidance of his best friend and Bandmaster, Jack Morrison.

With the onset of World War II, Woodrow enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 19, where he played in the band entertaining troops and civilians in England and France. Upon returning home from Europe, he settled in Montreal where he served in the band at the Montreal Citadel and began work as a draftsman. Through common acquaintances in the Salvation Army, Woodrow was introduced to the love of his life, Inez Muriel Welbourn, in 1947. At the time, Inez was living in Toronto with her younger sister, Joan. The two maintained a long-distance relationship through letter writing and weekend visits, and quickly fell in love. By October of that year, Inez moved permanently to Montreal to stay with her parents, who were also Salvation Army officers. The couple was married on September 18, 1948, at the Citadel and honeymooned in the Portland, Maine area.

Woody and Inez moved to the Montreal suburb of Lachine, where they began raising their three girls, Linda, Carole, and Sandra. Meanwhile, Woody secured a position at Continental Insurance and began working his way into management. In 1962, Woody was offered a promotion to assume a role in the Dallas branch of the company, and he jumped at the opportunity. The family settled in Bedford, Texas, a bedroom community between Dallas and Fort Worth. With Woody’s outgoing personality and service orientation, he quickly became a favorite of the close-knit neighborhood in and around King Drive. He always helped neighbors on the street by lending tools and advice or by jumping in to help a neighbor change out an oil pump in their car. He loved golf and kept regular tee times with his friends on the street. He was also well known among the children in the area for buying ice cream treats for everyone.

After 20 years in the Dallas branch of Continental Insurance, Woody had worked his way up to the position of Assistant Vice President. Due to reorganization, he was transferred to the office in Piscataway, New Jersey. After a few years, Woody retired and he and Inez moved permanently to their second home in Ocean Park, Maine. Woody and Inez had fallen in love with this beach community during their honeymoon, and nearly every year the Marsh family made the trek north from Texas to spend time in various cottage rentals at the beach. There they regularly vacationed with their extended family from Canada and remained especially close to the Deadman family, their long-time friends from Montreal. This annual tradition of vacationing in Ocean Park has continued to this day with Woody’s three daughters and their extended families.

Woody and Inez eventually moved back to Texas, building a home in Hurst where they lived for 20 years. During this time Inez developed Alzheimer’s Disease, and for 10 years Woody was her primary caregiver. Even after Inez was moved to a nursing facility, Woody visited her every day, always making sure that her needs were met and that she received quality care. Woody’s deep and undying love for Inez continued long after her death in 2012.

Woody enjoyed being around people and was a child at heart who loved to play. Whether he was playing golf and card games with friends, body surfing at the beach, or competing with his kids and grandkids over toys on Christmas morning, he always wanted to be actively involved and entertain others. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Woodrow Marsh left this world peacefully to be with our Lord and reunite with Inez on February 26, 2022. He was predeceased by his siblings William Milton Marsh, Audrey Sarah Marsh, Joseph Addison Noah Marsh, Marion Beryl Corway, and Carl Finney Marsh; wife Inez Muriel Marsh; son-in-law Stephen Edward Papp; and grandson Stephen Edward Marsh Papp.

Woodrow is survived by his brother, Simeon Ross Marsh; three daughters, Linda Papp, Carole Harkins (husband Pat Harkins), and Sandra Holland (husband David Holland); eight grandchildren, Melissa Jones (husband KC Jones), Stephanie Glover (husband Jeff Glover), Alison Igoe (husband John Igoe), William Papp, Paige Fielding (husband Trace Fielding), Hillary Dutton (husband Justin Dutton), Kailey Holland, and Chloe Holland; and eleven great-grandchildren, Avery Jones, Benjamin Jones, Nicholas Jones, Hayden Willis, Madeline Willis, Aiden Igoe, Claire Igoe, Cannon Fielding, Casler Fielding, Jace Dutton, and Poppy Dutton.

Memorial services will be held at 12:30 pm on Sunday, March 13 at the Salvation Army, Lewisville Corps, 880 Fox Avenue, Lewisville, Texas, 75067. The service will be streamed through Facebook Live. Join the Lewisville Corps public group in Facebook to view the streaming.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Lewisville Salvation Army in honor of Woodrow Marsh using the following link: give.salvationarmytexas.org/give/184019/. Please check the “Dedicate my donation” box and fill in Woody’s name as the honoree to ensure your donation is routed correctly. To let family members know that you have made a donation, please enter [email protected] and David Holland as the recipient information.