Kathleen McGrath Marsh was a kind and dedicated nurse, says her son John Marsh, but she also had a New Englander’s pragmatism.
“If there was some kid in the neighborhood who was hurt, generally everyone would turn to her and say, ‘What do we do, how do we fix it?’” John Marsh recalled with a chuckle. “But one time I broke my collarbone playing football; her first response was ‘Go lay down, while I finish making this pudding.’ She had this dual component; a very flinty approach but was always very caring as well.”
Marsh died June 25 at Friendship Village in Upper St. Clair. She was 86. She was born in Milton, New Hampshire, the daughter of the late Thomas and Mary (McCartan) McGrath.
She frequently returned to Maine to visit and always returned with a bit of an accent, her son recalled. “But she always insisted she was not the one with the accent.”
When she was working as an operating room nurse in Biddeford, Maine, Marsh met her future husband, the late Frank Marsh of West Newton.
The couple were married in 1953, and moved to Upper St. Clair in 1965. She continued her nursing career at Canonsburg Hospital and later at Mayview Hospital.
“She truly enjoyed working as an operating room nurse,” Mr. Marsh said. “She really liked the intellectual part of being a nurse, too.”
After retiring from nursing, Mrs. Marsh became active in preserving the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park.
Her son said she was able to negotiate a lot of bureaucratic red tape and helped the association secure a $500,000 state grant to help with a renovation project. She also was active as an historical re-enactor, Marsh said, putting her skill with a spinning wheel to use.
“She even had a license plate on her car that read ‘spinner,’” he said. “She had spinning wheels all over the house.”
In addition to her son John of Upper St. Clair, Marsh is survived by sons Joseph Marsh of Pittsburgh and Christopher Marsh of State College; a daughter, Kathleen Deaton of Denver, and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday at St. Louise de Marillac in Upper St. Clair, followed by a private family interment service in West Newton Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Oliver Miller Homestead Associates, c/o Mary Pat Swauger, 4830 Glen Allen Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 or the Rotary Club of Washington, PA, P.O. Box 4281, Washington, PA 15301 for its ”Support the Troops” effort.
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