Celeste Nana Greenwell Marshall

Hazel Celestine Marshall, née Greenwell, passed away Monday, June 10, 2013, in The Palms of Pasadena Hospital, following a heart attack and stroke; and the world lost some of it's sparkle. Celeste was born on January 17, 1923, in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Greenwell and Bessie Marie Ricker. She attended McKinley Technical High School where she was the first girl in the school to take a class in physics. She participated in student dramatics and told her memory of a school play where the lead boy was to take her hand and give her a brief kiss. He indeed took her hand, but instead of the kiss, he cried out loudly, “Boy! are your hands cold!!”

She is survived by two sons and a daughter: Robert Dennis of Gaithersburg, MD (wife Kathleen), Bess Kennedy of Largo, FL, and Jack Marshall of Galveston, TX (wife Laurie); five grandsons, James Kennedy, Jr., Kevin Kennedy, Kaeri Steinbach, Aubrey Marshall, and Ira Marshall; fifteen great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by a sister-in-law Elaine Anderson of Ebro, FL, and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her three sisters, Evelyn Cooney, Marian Diegelmann, and Dorothy Curtin, and brother, Robert Greenwell.

Celeste’s husband, Ira Jackson Marshall (Jack), died in 2003, after just under 54 years of marriage. Her first marriage to Earl Dennis, Jr. had ended in divorce.

During World War II, Celeste worked as a plotter for Civil Defense and at People’s Drugstore in Washington, D.C.. She came to Florida in 1947 where she met her husband, Jack Marshall to whom she was married until his untimely death in 2003. They lived in St. Petersburg until 1972, when they moved to Seminole. In 2004, after the death of her husband, Celeste moved to North Redington Beach. Celeste worked at Maas Brothers off and on; was a sometime member of the League of Women Voters; dabbled in painting, ceramics, pottery. She played amateur piano and string bass for her own enjoyment, sometimes joining her husband, Jack, who played guitar and banjo, in an amateur bluegrass band. She and Jack were members for a few years of Country Time Cloggers and enjoyed going to bluegrass festivals. She had a quest for knowledge and studied various foreign languages. Recently she taught herself sign language. She loved to travel and had visited Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Iceland, Ireland, Alaska, Australia, Mexico, Panama Canal, Alaska, California, New England, Nevada, Hawaii, China, and Antarctica, as well as several cruises in the Caribbean.

Known as "Nana" by her grandchildren and by friends and acquaintances whom she met after she was eighty years old, she enjoyed her life in North Redington Beach, swimming, relaxing on a cabana and enjoying the view, visiting with friends and shopkeepers, and watching Gulf sunsets with family and friends at the Tiki Bar. She loved to eat at restaurants, especially enjoying stone crabs in season.

She was a beautiful lady, both inside and out, always with a wonderful smile and loving heart. She had great strength and a positive outlook along with a great sense of humor and quick wit that could lift anyone’s spirits. She had a passion for life and lived it to the fullest while surrounding herself, and sharing her love, with family and many friends who were all so special to her. She managed to touch the heart of everyone she met, and she will be sorely missed. Nana, We Love and & Miss You!!

Visitation held 1:00 p.m. until service time at 3:00 p.m. Monday, June 17, 2013 at Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home with committal prayers and entombment following the service at Garden Sanctuary Cemetery.

Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to Morean Arts Center, 719 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 moreanartscenter.org/‎ “make a donation”, “make a gift”

Arrangements were made under the direction of Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home, 7950 131st Street North, Seminole, FL 33776 / 727-391-0121.