Retired pastor Frank Marshall celebrated his 100th birthday on April 21. IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams visited with him at First Baptist Church in Mt. Zion on May 1 and presented a personalized newspaper page from his birth year to mark the occasion.
Marshall pastored his first church in 1948, Concord Baptist Church in rural Pinckneyville, where he earned $15 a week. He moved to Ft. Worth, Texas the following year where he attended seminary for four years. There he pastored a church 150 miles away and earned $15 a week to start, later receiving a $5 a week raise. It wasn’t until he returned to Illinois in 1952 that a pastorate at First Baptist Church in Golconda led to the “big money” paying $65 a week to start. Marshall served his most recent interim in 2011.
Before retiring, Marshall pastored or interim pastored for over 65 years in 25 congregations—one in Missouri, two in Texas, and 22 in Illinois. He performed 878 baptisms, 254 weddings, and 213 funerals. In the 1950s he wrote a regular column for the Illinois Baptist newspaper, “Minute Messages.” He also served as interim Director of Missions for Central Baptist Association from 1993-1994.
He and his wife, Jeanne, have three children, Roger, David, and Valerie (Pafford). Both Roger and David followed their father into ministry. David pastors FBC Mt. Zion. Roger pastored at FBC Effingham before retiring. He also served as a zone consultant for IBSA.