David Edward Marshall, 88

David Edward Marshall, 88, passed away Dec. 15, 2025, at his home in Polson.

Dave was born Nov. 16, 1937, to Edward and Martha (Lawson) Marshall in Butte. He graduated from Butte High School in 1956 and briefly attended the School of Mines before transferring to MSU-Bozeman and then to the University of Montana in Missoula. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from UM’s Wildlife Biology program in 1961.

While attending UM, he met coed Suzanne Sweeney, who waited tables at his favorite café, The Chimney Corner. They married in 1959.

Dave used to say, “I didn’t have a career, I had a careen.” He careened from summer jobs with the U.S. Forest Service (backcountry mule packer, horseback wilderness guard, and working on trail crews) to stints as an employment counselor and then county sanitarian in Lincoln, Lewis and Clark, Jefferson and Sanders counties.

Along the way, he dabbled in various business ventures such as beekeeping, guiding backpacking trips, and opening Bread and Barter Secondhand Store with friend and partner Kathy Matthews.

In the 1970s, Dave moved the family to a hippie farm near Heron. Living off the land proved unsustainable, so Dave became a part-time sanitarian. The farm was sold, and the family moved to Hot Springs, where he managed the landfill.

Next, the family moved to Polson, where he taught science at the fledgling Salish Kootenai College (SKC). At that time, SKC consisted of two classrooms on the second floor of the old Ronan elementary school.

When SKC became accredited, he transitioned to training the college’s janitors, and worked various construction jobs, including building the outdoor amphitheater. He earned a place on SKC’s Founder’s Wall.

Dave was a naturalist who loved to teach people about birds, plants and animals. Throughout his life, he had a way of attracting strays, both human and four-legged.

In the 1990s, Dave landed his dream job when the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes hired him to manage the Tribes’ Solid and Hazardous Waste Program. He worked there until he retired in 2003.

He kept his considerable sense of humor to the very end. When he was asked on his death bed which line of work he identified with most, Dave whispered, “Junk Man.”

He is survived by his wife, Suzy; his children, Peggy (Brad) Prigge, Lisa Marshall, Adam (Lisa) Marshall, and Zachary (Candace) Marshall; his grandchildren, Teal (Nick) Richter, Sage (Mariah) Prigge, Eric and Joel Grosh, and Wesley, Quinn, Serena, Asher and Kadie Marshall; and eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration will be announced at a later date.