Dr. Charles Bennett Marshall

Dr. Charles Bennett Marshall, 92, of Martinsville, departed this life on Monday, February 17, 2020, at SOVAH Martinsville, formerly Memorial Hospital of Martinsville-Henry County, where he had delivered babies and cared for many patients during his obstetric-gynecology career. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving member of the original Memorial Hospital medical staff. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of 65 years, Doris Decker Marshall. He was born in Binghamton, NY, on July 22, 1927, to Dr. Charles Jay Marshall and Mildred Bennett Marshall. Chuck, as he was known to his friends, graduated from Binghamton North High School in 1944 and was accepted into medical school on an accelerated wartime program after briefly attending Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Syracuse University College of Medicine in 1949 (now SUNY Medical University). He met his wife, Doris in medical school, and they were married right after graduation in 1949. He always believed that their marriage was arranged in heaven. After two intern years, first at University Hospital, Augusta, GA, then at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, NC, he was drafted during the Korean War, and served from 1951 to 1953 in the Army Medical Corps in Japan. Upon discharge he continued his Ob-Gyn training at Free Hospital for Women in Boston (now Brigham & Women’s Hospital), and completed residency at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY. He began his OB-Gyn practice in Martinsville, VA, in 1957 at the old Martinsville General Hospital on Starling Avenue. He was the first staff member to admit an African-American patient to that hospital. When Chuck and Doris’s children were grown, it was time to respond to the calling that their Lord Jesus had on their lives to serve as medical missionaries wherever they were sent. From 1977 until 1983, they served year-round in fields as diverse as a modern hospital in South Korea to a clinic in American Samoa to refugee camps in Thailand, Malaysia, and Somalia. In 1983, Dr. Marshall returned to Martinsville to care for his ailing mother and resumed his Ob-Gyn practice in Martinsville, which he continued until 1987. Not having lost their zeal for overseas service, he and Doris went on half-year mission assignments to many countries under World Medical Mission, including Ivory Coast, Niger, Kenya, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Equador, Papua New Guinea, and Albania, serving on every continent except Antarctica until 2007. From 2007 to 2012, he was the volunteer doctor in the Martinsville Free Clinic. Dr. Marshall loved the Lord and all of his children. He felt at home in and was welcomed into many church families around the world. In Martinsville, he was a 62-year member of First Presbyterian Church and a faithful member and teacher of the Read-Robins Sunday School class at First United Methodist Church. He divided his Sunday morning time between the two churches and especially enjoyed the sermons of Methodist pastor Keith Ritchie. He is survived by his sister Susan M. Knox of State College, Pennsylvania, three daughters, Gael M. Chaney and husband Smith Chaney of Union Hall, Jodi M. White of Charlottesville, and Anne Shirley Marshall of Ridgeway, and one son, Peter Decker Marshall, who was a loving caregiver to both parents during their later years. Also surviving are three granddaughters, Corrie Lawson and husband Chris of Greensboro, NC, Jen Wilkes and husband Brian of Esmont, and Ruth-Decker Chaney of Nashville, TN; five grandsons, Marshall Chaney and wife Alexandria of Blacksburg, Aerial White and wife Rachel of Chesterfield, Bennett Chaney and wife Toa of Cambridge, Mass., Charles Caleb Hundley and wife Nina of Winston-Salem, NC, and Trevor White and wife Sarah of Christiansburg. He was also blessed with eight great-grandchildren, with another expected in June and 1 niece and 2 nephews. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, February 19, from 5 to 7 PM, at Collins-McKee-Stone funeral home, 109 Broad St., Martinsville. The service will be held on Thursday, February 20, at 11:00 AM, at First Presbyterian Church Martinsville, with a reception to follow. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pregnancy Care Center, 314 Fairy St. Ext., Suite E, Martinsville, VA 24112, or the charity of your choice. . Arrangements are by McKee-Stone Funeral Home-Martinsville, VA To express condolences online, please visit www.collinsmckeestonemartinsville.com