Janet Heeman Marshall passed away Easter morning, April 20, 2025. She was 103 years old.
Her husband, William McDaniel Marshall, predeceased her in 1982. Her son, William McDaniel Marshall Jr., also predeceased her in 2000.
She is survived by her sons: Richard H. Marshall (Laura), James H. Marshall; and her daughter-in-law, MaryBeth J. Marshall. She is also survived by six grandchildren: Daniel C. Marshall, Emily M. Mears (Michael), Margaret M. Philp (Bruce), Henry H. Marshall, (Faye), Madeline Marshall, (Christopher Boggs), and Chase A. Marshall (Lauren). She is also survived by nine great-grandchildren.
She grew up in West Park, Ohio, attended Lakewood primary schools and graduated from Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights and Sullins College in Bristol, Va.
Janet Marshall, was a longtime summer resident at Christmas Cove in South Bristol. She first traveled to Maine with her husband, Bill Marshall, when she was 26 years old. The Marshall family has been summer residents at Christmas Cove since the early 1900s when Wentworth Goodson Marshall and his wife, Louise Gehring, first traveled there by steam ship to visit Louise’s brother, Dr. John G. Gehring. Gehring operated an inn in Bethel, and his wife Marian True Farnsworth’s son had a home at Christmas Cove in South Bristol.
For over 75 years Janet enjoyed her picturesque home and view of the cove. She surrounded herself with cheerful cottage gardens, her books, and genealogy projects. She enjoyed an occasional outing on the water, still able to climb aboard a boat after turning 101 years old. She enjoyed her friends and family, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews who frequent “The Cove” during the summer and would never miss an opportunity to stop in for a visit and perhaps find themselves lucky enough to enjoy a warm slice of her famous blueberry pie.
She was an avid reader, golfer, American history buff, member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames, Colonial Dames XVII Century and Daughters of Holland Dames, and a former member of the Old Bristol Garden Club. She loved music and when back home enjoyed The Cleveland Orchestra’s Friday matinee from what she claimed was, “the best seat in the house.”
She chaired the Cleveland Herbal Project, a substantial undertaking to compile and publish a detailed descriptive bibliography of three large collections of rare, pre-1830 “herbal” works which were the early medical reference books. One of the three collections belonged to George Gehring Marshall, which had been donated to the Allen Memorial Library of Case Western Reserve University.
She will be remembered for her warmth and kindness, devotion to her family, her adventurous nature, a renaissance woman a patriot, and always a lady. For further information and to sign the guestbook, please log online to brown-forward.com. Call Brown-Forward Service at 216-752-1200.
