38 JULY 2025 | INTHEVUE.COM When Marshall realized that his own family - eight brothers and sisters - weren’t able to find time in their schedules for regular gatherings, he brought his sales knowledge to the table. Literally. And so began a new tradition of gathering for each sibling’s birthday. The siblings range in age from 91 to 74 and all live within 100 miles of each other. The siblings are Barbara Rose Noel, 91, of Metropolis, Illinois; David Marshall, 89, of Dover, Tennessee; Pat Heflin, 87, of Dover, Tennessee; Wanda Sue Wells, 85, of Madisonville, Kentucky; Billy Marshall, 82, of Grand Rivers, Kentucky; Charlotte Marshall, 79, of Dover, Tennessee; Jane Threatt, 77, of Dover, Tennessee and John Marshall, 74, of Clarksville, Tennessee. And all are in fairly good health - mind, spirit, and body. Especially the spirit. Earlier this summer, six of the eight gathered around a long rectangular table at Paris Landing State Park to reminisce over lunch and dessert. Barbara and Wanda were unable to attend. Stories of growing up in Dover, Eddyville, Linton, Pea Ridge, and later Cadiz, before returning to Dover, peppered the conversation. The siblings laughed and finished each other’s stories as they remembered their childhood. And the laughter. Contagious. “We grew up poor, but we were blessed,” Heflin recalled. “We loved each other.” Johnny Marshall, their father, served in World War II and later worked on the Kentucky lock and dam project. Irene raised the children. Back then, they didn’t have the communication that we do now, so Irene was home with five children and didn’t talk to Johnny for a year while he was in the service. Their parents instilled a strong work ethic and strong morals in them and taught them about the value of family. The connections and bonds that didn’t need to break. All they had was each other, and that’s all that mattered. “We called her Big Mama,” said Melesia Marshall, 62, and Billy’s daughter who had tagged along for their family lunch. “She was a godly woman. She believed in God, and she prayed. She had a Bible that we still have, and we read out of the Bible together. Big Mama would have notes where all of her children worked…and she prayed over them every day. As a granddaughter, I remember that.” The siblings all had stories about life lessons learned. Some the hard way. David Marshall recalled trying to sneak an apple he took from a tree past his father. He told his dad that he had found the apple on the ground. A fib.
