Gary Marshall

Gary L. Marshall, a retired banking and insurance executive, died at his Sandy Lake home Friday, surrounded by his family. He was 77.

Gary was born and raised in Ravenna, the son of Lohman and Marie Marshall. He was a graduate of Ravenna High School, an outstanding athlete who played football, baseball and basketball. (His coaches included, at one time, a guy named Lou Holtz.) He went on to get a degree from Kent State University before launching his banking career at Evans Savings and Loan, where he met William Evans, whose family owned the SandL. That began a business and personal friendship that lasted the rest of Gary's life. His neighbors at Sandy Lake included Weldon and Mary Berg, and their eldest daughter, Betty Lou. They married in 1963, moved to Cuyahoga Falls and had three children, Douglas (of Cuyahoga Falls), David (of Dunwoody, GA) and Debra Blanton (of Steamboat Springs, CO). After Evans Savings was sold, Gary moved on to the successor bank, American Bank of Commerce, and later Centran Bank, where he was working when he retired and moved into the insurance business, buying the Wayne Agency in Cuyahoga Falls, with his partner, Bill Evans. They later also formed Falls Title, a real estate title agency.

With his kids in Falls schools, Gary got heavily involved in community affairs, joining the Falls Parks and Recreation Board and later winning election to the Falls school board, where he served as president. He moved back to Sandy Lake in 1998 after his dad died to take care of his mother. (The elder Marshalls had sold their Ravenna home and converted their lake cottage to a year-round home.) He served on the lake's Board of Directors and was a fixture in lake affairs, seen frequently in his golf cart.

In addition to his children, he leaves his brother-in-law Roger Berg of Sandy Lake, four grandchildren, Morgan and Madison Marshall of Cuyahoga Falls and Grant and Kara Marshall of Dunwoody, GA; cousins Tim Smith of Sandy Lake, and his brothers Greg of Lilburn, GA, Jeff of Dunedin, NZ, and Kevin of Oakland, CA, and sisters Barbara McCammon and Bonnie Ahl of Ft. Myers, FL.

Calling hours will be 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 21 in the Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home, 1980 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, followed by a celebration of life. Family and friends will be invited to share remembrances. Services entrusted to Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home and Crematory, 330-928-2147.