Edmund Plowden Marsden

Edmund Plowden Marsden, formerly with IBM and a lifelong Marylander, died March 6th of congestive heart failure. He was 82. Mr. Marsden was born in Washington, D.C., the only child of Nell Plowden Marsden and Thomas J. Marsden. He grew up in Foxhall Village and remembered fondly the summers spent at the family home in St. Mary’s County. Ed is a direct descendent of one of Maryland’s earliest colonial families.

After graduating in 1950 from Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 1954. Ed wasn’t able to attend the graduation ceremony because he was serving in the Navy aboard the USS Douglas H. Fox from 1953-55 at the end of the Korean War. After he was discharged, he took a job with IBM, first in sales and then in marketing. Ed was an “IBMer” for 34 years until he retired in 1991. During that time he raised three children with his wife of 55 years, the former Susan Chasmar Werner. Aside from family, one of his joys in life was being behind the wheel of his white Porsche 912 during an autocross or on a winding country road. Ed served as President of the Porsche Club of America- Potomac region in 1977.

Throughout most of his adult life, Ed triumphed over heart disease and because of his efforts, and good doctors, he was able to enjoy his nine grandchildren for many years. His daughter was a TV news anchor for WMAR in Baltimore and there is still an antenna pointing north on the roof of his Montgomery County home. She could never get him to root for any other baseball team than the Nationals! Ed embraced new technology and had a constant desire to learn which sometimes meant hours spent on his computer. His iPod is filled with Beethoven, Bach, and New Orleans style Jazz. He would listen to his tunes while working out at the gym nearly every day…a day which usually ended with a glass of Cabernet. “Good for the heart”, he would say.

Ed Marsden is survived by his wife; a daughter, Mary Beth Marsden; sons, Thomas George (T.G.) Marsden and Patrick Marsden; and his nine grandchildren: Shawn Marsden, Pat Marsden, Brian Marsden, Margaret Marsden, Jack McGrath, George McGrath, Tess McGrath, Owen Marsden and Emerson Marsden.

A private service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to The Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake at baltimoreautismsociety.org

For additional information visit www.josephgawlers.com