In Memory of a Republican

Dr. Frederick C. Marshall

June 8, 1930 - August 10, 2002

By: Alan Clark

   Fred worked for Alberta independence. Probably harder than anyone. He told me many times that independence wasn't so much a political exercise as it is educational. Once people learn the facts, they come to the inevitable reality that independence is the only answer. Those of us around him often remarked that if we could only get everyone in Alberta to talk to Fred for five minutes, freedom would be ours.

   Fred read and wrote poetry, a fact I was oblivious to during our long friendship. Since his death, I've had the opportunity to read some of Fred's poetry and not surprisingly, it's very good. Not so much classic prose and pentameter but rhythmic observations of life and death. Fred was a medical doctor and surgeon and guided many of his patients through the process of slowly dying. And it gave Fred not only great outward courage in the face of his own mortality but also a magnificent outlook on life. One of Fred's poems illustrates this perfectly.

John Calvin R.I.P

Enjoy all the pains of your body.

Rejoice in your agonies and aches.

For if what you want is comfort,

then death is all that it takes.

If ease, calm, rest and quietus

are the states for which you most strive

but your lot is pain and discomfort,

then cheer up! For you are alive.

   The poem "Tom Smith And His Incredible Bread Machine"  was given to me by Fred a month before his death. I think it should be required reading in Alberta's high schools. After over a decade of learning at the knee of Fred Marshall, it was an amazing way to wrap up what he had been teaching me. On the day of his memorial service, a number of us received Thank You cards from Fred Marshall. "Thanks for being my pal" he wrote to me. Thank you Fred.