William Emmett Marshall

Bill was born in Chicago, the son of William and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Marshall, on July 21, 1935. He attended Loyola Academy in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Bill married Bonnie Dallman on June 10, 1961 in Springfield, IL several years after they met at the university.

Bill graduated in 1961 from the University of Illinois with a PhD in food science. After post-doctoral fellowships in Uppsala, Sweden and Cambridge, England, he led research and development teams at General Foods (White Plains, NY) and Pioneer Hi-Bred International (Des Moines, IA). President Ronald Reagan appointed Bill as a member of the Grace Commission in 1982. Following this, he served as chairman of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Users Advisory Board from 1983 to 1988.

In the 1990s, Bill taught at New York Medical College and conducted microbiology research there. An early evangelist of probiotics, he founded Immunom Technologies in 1993. For the next 30 years, he led the company.

He was most proud to receive the University of Illinois Award of Merit for distinguished alumni in 1994 for his biotech research.

Bill and Bonnie were residents of Bedford Hills, NY from 1974 to 2000, where Bill was an avid tennis player. He was also a sports fan who especially loved his New York teams: Jets, Giants and New York Yankees.

Bill is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Bonnie; his children, Liz (Jeff Seiken), Stephanie Marshall, and William D. Marshall; and his six grandchildren, Abigail Marshall, Amanda Seiken, Mikhail Seiken, Charlotte Marshall, Will Marshall and Amelia Marshall. Bill also leaves behind his sister, Rosemary Morici.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents, his brother James Marshall and his sisters Susanne Peterson and Nancy Crabb.

A memorial service will be planned at a later date.

The family of Bill wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Naples Community Hospital and Avow Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts for Bill can be sent to the University of Illinois Foundation for the Food Science and Human Nutrition Excellence Fund. Please put “Dr. William E. Marshall” in the memo line. The address is: P.O. Box 734500, Chicago, IL 60673.