Thomas Rowland Marshall III, retired river pilot
At the age of 100 years, Capt. Thomas Rowland Marshall III died peacefully in his home on Lewes Beach facing the bay Saturday, April 30, 2022. He was born Jan. 22, 1922, to Joseph L. Marshall and Susan Watts Marshall at Beebe Hospital in Lewes. He was a generous man with a clever sense of humor who never met a stranger.
Rowland graduated from Lewes High School in 1940, where he participated in sports and played trombone in the band. He was a camp counselor at Children’s Beach House as a young teen. Later in life, he served on the Children’s Beach House board of directors for many years, and initiated a golf tournament fundraiser that is still held each year.
After spending a brief time at the University of Delaware, he was taken to apprentice in the Pilots’ Association for the Bay and River Delaware as World War II was starting. During the war, he was commissioned into the U.S. Coast Guard with the Pilots’ Association for the Bay and River Delaware. Rowland served as president of the Pilots’ Association from 1967-73, retiring in 1991. He loved being a river pilot like his grandfather before him.
On July 25, 1945, Rowland married Marian Catherine Hocker at Lewes Presbyterian Church in his dress white Coast Guard uniform. The young couple lived on Lewes Beach while they started their family. In 1954, the Marshalls moved to Wilmington as Rowland was one of the pilots licensed to navigate ships through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The family returned to Lewes every summer, where life revolved around enjoying the beach and the bay.
Sailing Sailfish and eventually Mobjacks out of the Lewes Yacht Club, Rowland was a winning competitor. Rowland and his fellow sailors built the first Delaware Bay Sailfish in his garage on Bay Avenue. He was a life member of the Lewes Yacht Club and a life member of the International Mobjack Association. Rowland served as commodore of LYC from 1957-58. He was inducted into the Delaware Maritime Hall of Fame in 2008.
Rowland was a devoted member of St. Peter’s Church in Lewes, serving on the vestry and singing bass harmonies in the choir for many years. He was an accomplished carpenter and antique furniture refinisher, and he put these skills to work at St. Peter’s Church and Lewes Historical Society in its infancy.
Rowland was preceded in death by his wife Marian, with whom he spent 69 loving years; and their son, Thomas R. Marshall IV; and his sisters, Mother Virginia of All Saint’s Convent, Catonsville Md., Sue Schell Preston Dean of Vero Beach, Fla., and Lillian M. Burris of Milford and Lewes.
Rowland is survived by his daughters: Constance Marshall Miller (John) and Linda M. Fischer (Bobby), both of Lewes; 10 grandchildren: Katy Fischer (Ben), John David Miller (Carly), Abigail L. Miller, Amanda M. Fischer (Max), Hannah Petterson (Jordan), Taylor M. Keen, Artie Fischer (Leah), Meredith M. Marshall, Joseph Andrew Miller and Thomas R. Marshall V (Bridget); 10 great-grandchildren whom Cap cherished: Hayden and Reese Petterson, Zane, Luca and Avary Miller, Juniper Davis, Joseph Keen, Thomas and Nellie Marshall, and Helen Fischer. There are many devoted, extended Marshall family members who all meant so much to Rowland.
The family wants to thank his caregivers, Dee MacIntire and Gina Mifflin, and the crew who took such very good care of Rowland. Also, thanks to Delaware Hospice.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, May 16, 2022, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 200 Second St., Lewes, where friends may greet beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will be private.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Open Door Campaign, P.O. Box 464, Lewes, DE 19958.
