Rememberance to Dave Marshall 1946-2011
Dave touched each of us differently, however, all of us will have fond
memories of him. Even though we went to high school and went surfing
together in the 60's, we truly became friends upon entering the Marine Corps
1966-8. We all knew his temper, yet we also saw the talented and tender side
of Dave. Funerals would bring out this side, and most of us remember him helping
us more than just once.
All of us watched "Rowdy Yates" turn into a decent actor, and then over the
years morph into one of the finest movie makers, Clint Eastwood. The "Good,
Bad, and Ugly" would be how many of our thoughts would be for Dave. Many
of us remember his "strories" that were an adaptation of something Dave did
years back, and he had embellished them into entertaining short stories that he
could turn into a novel if there was enough alcohol to pass around. Most of us also
remember his temper and the confrontations it brought about. Often these served as
material for one of his entertaining stories.
Having moved out of L.A. in early 2000, and except for the four-hour hour
drive to or from Las Vegas to L.A., I kept in touch with Dave via cell phone.
I must have spent hours trying to convince him to come to Vegas, as I knew his
biological father had retired there and after at least a 100 conversations in which
I would say to him, "You had better visit him before he dies," FINALLY, he came
to Vegas and met with his "biological father." They established a relationship and Dave
became friends with his half-brother. They had plans to get together again, but six
months after Dave met his father, his father passed away. He was always very thankful
at my persistence in convining him to finally meet his father.
.
Upon hearing about Dave's stroke, we kept up our friendship via cell and then in 2008,
I moved moved from the Las Vegas area to Asheville, North Carolina. I would call and
gauge his recovery by our chats. Every time we spoke, I would notice his voice was
improving and would hear from others how he was doing.
If it were not for his 3 kids with the help of Virginia, his obituary would have been written much sooner than
November 26, 2011. They got him into the best rehab (even though he hatched a plan for the Marines to bust
him out) and then...eventually to his final "Bachelor Pad" trailer in Virginia's park by the beach. They could
easily check on him, take him to the market, he could walk down to look at the waves or sunset, and friends
could easily stop by. (that portion was a direct email Virg sent me)
While each of us has our own memories of Dave, I'd like to have us close
our eyes and view his imaginary plot with the inscription as it would read today
"A Monument to his Memories." We will all have our memories of Dave and there will
be moments when something triggers a fond memory of Dave.
Here's "A toast to a great friend we will never forget."
Sincerely,
Jerry Koplof
