Donald Wayne Marsh died May 15, 2020. He was born July 14, 1933 on a farm near Walters, Oklahoma, to Louie and Lillian Marsh. He was a 1958 graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. Following internship at St. Anthony Hospital, he completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma.
Don enjoyed two medical careers. After several years in private practice as an ophthalmologist in Norman, Oklahoma, he entered the U.S. Navy, from which he retired as a Captain in 1993. He loved the Navy and readily took advantage of the many opportunities it afforded him. He was Division Surgeon for the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, NC. He served on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. He completed a residency in occupational medicine at the University of Cincinnati Kettering Institute. He became Director of Occupational and Environmental Health Services at Naval Shipyards Charleston, SC, and Bremerton, WA. He served as Director of Aviation and Occupational Health at Naval Air Station, Oak Harbor, WA. Don enjoyed living in different places, making new friends, and participating in activities few physicians experience in life. He served on the staff of St. Anthony Hospital from 1994 until 1999.
Don grew up in the country. Some of his fondest memories were of times he spent with his grandparents, Chester and Lillie Marsh. He developed a love of the outdoors, of cattle and horses and wide-open spaces. Even though he wore a physician’s coat or a Navy uniform, much of his life he was a cowboy at heart. He enjoyed time spent on a ranch he owned for several years. He thoroughly enjoyed being on the back of a horse or on a tractor. He believed he was closest to God when he was covered with dirt and perspiration from work. It is quite likely that he arrived at heaven’s gate wearing cowboy boots.
Don was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his wife, Martha Jo; brother, James Marsh and wife, Colleen; son, Dirk Marsh Shaw and wife, Sandi; daughter, Donna Marsh; grandchildren, David Shaw and wife, Cristin, Jennifer Friesen and husband, Philip, and Megan Gann; great-grandchildren, Benjamin Shaw and Gabriel Friesen; stepson, Jay Shaw; stepdaughter, Brenda Simon and husband, Jon; step-grandchildren, Shelby Jaye Hughes and husband, Blake, Wiley Simon and BB Simon; and a host of loving family and friends.
Services will be Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper Funeral Directors, 6600 Broadway Extension. The funeral services will be live streamed via the following link: https://tinyurl.com/hcfhlive. A Private Interment will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery.
