Rev. Otto Franklin Marshall

November 8, 1905 – April 4, 1986

Rev. Otto Franklin Marshall, 80, of 627 Lakeview Terrace in New Braunfels, Texas, died April 4, 1986, at McKenna Memorial Hospital.

Born in Perry, Oklahoma, Nov. 8, 1905, he was the son of Edward and Fanny Marshall. Otto attended Perry schools, graduating with the class of 1924. Outside of school he was a member of the 4-H club, the Presbyterian church, and very active in church work. In April, 1928, he enrolled as a student at Draughon’s Business College at Oklahoma City. After completing his classes at Draughon’s he moved back to Perry and was employed at the Oklahoma-Interstate Wholesale Grocery.

On May 4, 1929, Otto and Elizabeth Wilson were married in Perry. She was also a PHS alumni and attended Draughon’s Business College before her employment at the Treeman and Munger store in Perry. Otto and Elizabeth were very active in the Christian Church Endeavor program. They divorced in August, 1930.

Otto remained in Perry until about 1935 when he enrolled at Phillips University in Enid. On March 15, 1937, Otto and Retta Ritthaler, 1935 PHS graduate and fellow student at Phillips, were married in Chandler, Oklahoma. To this union a son was born, David Franklin.

In January 1939, as his first funeral, Reverend Otto Marshall officiated the services for Sarah Green, 121 years old, who lived in Perry. She was Oklahoma’s most aged resident.

That same year, the Rev. Otto Marshall was called as pastor of the Central Christian church in Bartlett, Texas. He also shepherded the communities of Holland and Rogers, Texas. The couple lost an infant son on September 30, 1940, followed by Retta, October 19, 1940, at the age of 23.

After the death of Retta, Otto resigned from this post in Bartlett, Texas and accepted a similar position with the First Christian church of Paducah, Texas, followed by a position at Smithville, TX. During this time he continued his education graduating from the Texas Christian University, Forth Worth, Texas.

He married Pauline Davis July 28, 1942, in Lamesa, Texas. The family moved to Stamford, Texas, where Otto became the pastor of the Central Christian Church. He resigned from this position at the end of 1944 and began service at Floydada, followed by Eastland, Aransas Pass, Marfa, Greggton, and Waco Texas.

Marshall retired as a United Church of Christ minister and he was a member of Faith United Church of Christ.

Survivors include his wife, Pauline, of New Braunfels; one son, David F. Marshall of Grand Forks, North Dakota; two sisters, two brothers, and two grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 2:30 p.m. April 8, at Faith United Church of Christ with the Rev. Rodney Wells of New Braunfels officiating.