Mrs. Alula (Lou) Taylor White Marshall, 93, died peacefully on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Houston.
Lou was born in Edenton, N.C., on May 26, 1931, to Margaret Rose Speight White and Herman Franklin White, in the home built by her grandfather, Will Oscar Speight. She spent her early life in the Speight House, cared for by her maternal aunt, Alula Speight Taylor (later Colvin), and her grandmother, Minnie Perry Speight. In her early teens she moved to the Eastern Shore, where she graduated from Pocomoke High School and later attended both the Eastern Shore Branch of the University of Virginia and Salisbury State College (now Salisbury University).
After her marriage to Norman James (Jimmy) Marshall in 1950, she worked for the U.S. Navy at Wallops Island and later played an essential role in the transition of the NS Marshall and Son barrel making business into a successful farming operation and later into Marshall Manufacturing Company. After the first few years of their marriage at Wishart’s Point, Lou and Jimmy moved to Temperanceville, where she lived until moving to Houston in 2019 to be closer to her daughter.
She and Jimmy enjoyed many boating adventures, initially on motorboats, the Me Too and the Blackhawk, and later on their sailing sloop, the Nautilus. They made friends up and down the waterways as they went, from Ocean City, Md., to Atlantic Beach, N.C. The two also enjoyed skiing and snorkeling, and eventually they took Lou’s dream trip — an Alaskan cruise.
Lou loved collecting shells at Assateague, riding her horse, Dawn, and spending time with her grandchildren. She was an active member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church at Jenkins Bridge for many decades. She taught vacation Bible school, served on the vestry and altar guild, and participated yearly in the pancake supper.
Lou was preceded in death by Jimmy in 2006. She is survived by her children, Richard James (Dick) Marshall and his wife, Kim, and Nancy Marshall Tarrand and her husband, Jeff, as well as her grandchildren, Andrew James Marshall, Ryan Lee Marshall, Jessica Lynn Tarrand, Christopher Matthew Tarrand, and Ariel Elizabeth Tarrand.
Services and interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Emmanuel Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 186, Oak Hall, VA 23416.
