In Memory of Dana Gibson Marsh

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Dana Gibson Marsh, who left us on February 1, 2025.  Dana always had a thing about the number 9 and passed peacefully at 9:29 pm, at the age of 88, after more than a decade living with cancer and congestive heart failure.  Dana Marsh was a cherished member of our family and the community, known best for his intelligence, love of nature and unwavering dedication to the love of his life and wife of 43 years, Tabor Marsh.

Dana was born on August 12, 1936, in Los Angeles, California to loving parents Harry Gibson Marsh and Josephine Lora (Clark) Marsh. From an early age, Dana exhibited a curiosity and passion for learning that would stay with him throughout his life. Dana graduated from Bellflower High School in 1954, where he enjoyed tennis, volleyball and the science club. Although he described himself as a small and humble highschooler, he did like to say he was one of the earliest "influencers" because he decided to dye his corduroy pants purple one day, and after initially getting laughed out, his fellow students started showing up with dyed pants and shirts.

Dana served in the National Guard Army Reserves for six years, earning a Marksmanship Badge (Carbine, Rifle) followed by three years in the Army, where he served in artillery and trained as a medic, with honorable discharge in 1963.

Dana earned a BS in Physical Chemistry from California State Long Beach in 1965; A Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry – Photochemistry, Photophysics & Spectroscopy from University of California Riverside in 1969; a Post Doctoral Fellowship in U.S. Public Health Service, Air Pollution Studies from the University of California Riverside in 1969; and a M.E. in Engineering- Systems Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1981. Dana was duly elected an associate member of the University of California, Riverside Chapter of the Society of the Signa Xi, devoted to the promotion of research in science.

Dana worked for Xerox from 1969-1987, at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1987-1997 and for Eastman Kodak/Heidelberg Digital L.L.C./NexPress Digital L.L.C. (A Kodak Company) from 1996-2004, after which he consulted.  Throughout his career he amassed over 40 years of basic and applied studies of materials, technology and product development; 20 years of industrial and academic management experience; 10 years of university teaching and research; 35 Journal Publications and 31 US and Foreign Patents, with names like "Selective Exothermic Depolymerization of Degradable Polymers", "Morphological Granulometric Analysis of Electrophotographic Images" and "Using TRIZ to Resolve Educational Delivery Conflicts Inherent to Expelled Students in Pennsylvania".

Dana had an enduring love of the Southwest, especially the desert where he would visit his mother and sister on their ranch. When work took him out to the Northeast, where he would live out the rest of his life, he took up downhill skiing and ice fishing.

Beyond his professional life, Dana was deeply involved in the community. He was active in the Rotary Club in Newark, NY from 2007-2022, serving as Club President 2011-2012, and Director of the Board 2014-2015. The year he was president the Rotary Club of Newark was awarded the 2011-2012 Changemaker Award for making positive and significant change in the community and the world. During his service he visited each of the rotary clubs in the district, about 100 in all, encouraging involvement - especially of people of color.  He taught and strived to live by The Four Way Test of the Things We Think Say or Do:  First, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concerned?  Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned? The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named Dana Marsh as a Paul Harris Fellow, in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.

Dana served as a Master Gardner for Wayne County for over a decade.  His specialty was mushrooms, fungi, and tree and plant identification.  He was an expert in identifying diseases, especially to native species of apples and pears. He won Master Gardener of the Year and served on the Board for three years. Dana volunteered with the Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc., and was recognized as Outstanding New Literacy Tutor 2014-2015.

In his free time, Dana enjoyed many hobbies.  He was an avid photographer, maintaining a black room in the basement to develop his own film.   He enjoyed learning languages, speaking Japanese, and reading and speaking passable German and Spanish. He painted, maintained a record collection, enjoyed theater at Geva and was always reading books. In later years he researched family genealogy, taking one line back to the 1200s.   At the age of 86-87, he wrote a memoir, "Dana Gibson Marsh Nine is my Magic Number – A Memoir". It has 479 pages in it. In the introduction to Dana's memoir, he explained his method to remembering events in his lifetime, "To put myself into a productive state of mind, I imagined a situation that for me was the most pleasant. I imagined myself sitting in the shade on the bank of a cold, crystal clear, mountain spring.  It was Autumn, and the cottonwood trees were dropping their leaves into the water.  As the leaves floated downstream, they would slowly turn as the moved through quiet flat water, and as they moved into eddies and riffles, I could also hear the water as it cascaded over ledges and boulders. I imagined that each leaf carried a forgotten memory, and as I recognized it, other related memories came back into my mind. Over a period, I began to reconstruct my life."

Love of the outdoors and all its living things was his lifelong passion.   Dana made his own bamboo fly fishing rods and tied his own flies.  He enjoyed hiking and camping. He would go off in his canoe for weeklong adventures in the woods, portaging from place to place and fishing for survival. He would somehow convince his wife (and then another) to join him. Dana so enjoyed living on his 50-acre farm in Newark, NY as a "gentleman farmer", planting species of native fruit trees in his orchards.  He also established for the family a cottage on the St. Lawrence River, where he enjoyed watching birds, fishing and spending time with family.

Dana Marsh leaves behind his wife, Tabor (Hood) Marsh.  Perhaps nothing in his life embodies him more than the care he has provided for her in her advanced stage of dementia.  Dana is survived by his sister, Maryann Butterfield, and her son David Butterfield/Patt Butterfield.

Dana was a father to 9 children/stepchildren, a grandfather to 19 and a great-grandfather to 9. Dana is survived by his four children (and their families): Carrie Marsh (grandchild Renata McAllister/Ruben McAllister, great-grandchildren Saoirse McAllister and Lachian McAllister; grandchild Whitney Messier, great-grandchild Jake Messier; grandchild Valerie Hockett); Bryant Marsh/Janice Marsh (grandchildren Cameron Marsh and Madysen Marsh); Heather Marsh; Euphemia "Effie" Molina Periche/Miguel Periche Escalona (grandchildren Xochitl Calero, Mia Rosa Periche Salvage and Hugo Andres Periche Salvage). Dana is survived by his stepchildren (and their families): Russell Plumley/Julie Plumley; Richard Kwiatkowski/Lori Kwiatkowski; Carol Kwiatkowski/Paul Larmer (grandchidren Natasha Eckert, Harper Eckert); Kristen Tabor (grandchildren Victoria Mikolajczyk/Lexi Mikolajczyk, Jocelyn Mikolajczyk); and Bryn Kwiatkowski/Jessica Schojan (grandchild Heather Kwiatkowski, great-grandchildren Luci Mielcarek and Eli Mielcarek; grandchild Bryn Tyler Kwiatkowski, great-grandchildren Wyatt Kwiatkowski, David Kwiatkowski, Addison Kwiatkowski; grandchild Elliot Kwiatkowski; grandchild Lilah Kwiatkowski; grandchildren Jacob Schojan, Logan Schojan and Reagan Schojan).

Dana Marsh lives on through the countless lives he touched and the indelible mark he left on his family and the community. As we mourn the loss of Dana Marsh, we also celebrate a life well-lived and the enduring memories they have left behind. A Celebration of Life we be held in Newark, NY in the summer of 2025.  Please contact effiemolina@yahoo.com for more information.  To share a special memory please visit www.murphyfuneralhome.com.