Bettie Jeanne Marshall

Bettie Jeanne (Gillespie) Marshall, 89, passed away Friday, October 16, 2015, at Grafton City Hospital, following a period of declining health. She was born February 12, 1926, in Palmer, Braxton County, West Virginia, eldest daughter of the late James R. and Pearl J. Gillespie. She attended the schools of Webster County, and grew up in the coal company town of Barton. Her family relocated to Grafton, West Virginia, in 1944, where she went to work as a glass packer at the Hazel Atlas Glass Plant. She was married to the late Floyd S. "Pinky" Marshall, September 9, 1951, and became a wife and homemaker, a job she truly enjoyed for the rest of her life. She and her husband were an indomitable team, working and playing together for the duration of their fifty-five year marriage. She is survived by her only child, Bobbie Sue Clark, and her husband, Lawrence W. "Larry" Clark of Valley Falls. She is additionally survived by her two granddaughters, Allison Iapalucci and "grandson" Victor J. Iapalucci, as well as Ashlie Clark and Emre Ayaydin, all of Grafton. She was blessed to become a great-grandmother to her only great-grandchild, Emmett Ayaydin. She will be missed by her younger sister, Eileen R. Moran of Grafton, sister-in-law Ruth Gillespie, cousin, Mabel Martin, and special niece, Vicki Wolfe of Gore, Virginia. She was the last surviving aunt of the Marshall family, with whom she spent many hours with her countless nieces and nephews, and will be remembered as the matriarch of the Gillespie family, on whom her other nieces, nephews, and siblings relied. She will be remembered fondly for the pats she gave and treats she shared with her constant canine companion, Pennie Lane. She was preceded in death, by her husband, Pinky Marshall, July 14, 2007. She was additionally preceded in death by her infant sister, Renalda June, and her brothers, Vincent, Harold, Charles, and Burnell Gillespie, sisters-in -law Evelyn and Mary Alice Gillespie, Gertrude, Mary Louise, and Florence Marshall, as well as Libby Paige and Kate McKinney, and brothers-in-law A.Y. Moran, Harold, Charles, and Arthur Marshall, as well as Rich McKinney and James Paige. Bettie was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and the Naomi Chapter #12, Order of the Eastern Star, a civic organization she enjoyed with her late husband. She loved to travel, particularly to Walt Disney World, the Greenbrier, Hawaii, and anywhere she could partake of her favorite hobby, marching band. Her love of the Grafton High School Band led her to chaperone band camp throughout her daughter Bobbie Sue's time in band, and for years beyond. Her support continued through her two granddaughter's tenure with the West Virginia University Marching Band, and crossed sidelines where she could be found wearing her Grafton Bearcat shirt in tandem with a photo of her favorite Philip Barbour Band Director, her grandson. She will be remembered as a talented photographer, who preferred to spend her time behind the camera rather than in front of it, and seamstress, making the clothes she saw in magazines, rather than buying them. No one will ever forget a gift received from Bettie Marshall, as she had a talent for gift wrapping that left many caring not for what was inside the box, but instead being in awe of the exterior. She leaves a legacy of feminine independence with her daughter and granddaughters, in whom she instilled her fierce determination to stand on her own, and a reverence for higher education and the opportunities it presented for equality and opportunity. She never tired of encouraging her family members to give their all to a cause adopted, and never settle for less than the best. In lieu of flowers, and according to both her wishes and history of generosity, donations made to made to the WVU Foundation in her memory to assist in "The Pride of West Virginia," the Mountaineer Marching Band's uniform drive, or to the International Mother's Day Shrine of Grafton.
Friends may call at Bartlett Funeral Home, 202 McGraw Ave. on Monday, October 19, 2015 from 2-8PM and on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 from 9-until the time of funeral services at11:00AM. With Rev. Bert Coffman officiating. Interment will follow at the West Virginia National Cemetery.
Online condolences can be sent to the Marshall family at www.bartlettfuneralhomewv.com

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