Clifton Henry Marshall

Clifton Henry "Buddy" Marshall died July 23, 2016 at the Heritage Center in Conway, Arkansas at the age of 96. He was born near Carthage, Arkansas November 16, 1919, the son of Robert Lee Marshall and Virginia Isabel McGriff and a descendant of several families who settled in Dallas, Drew and Jefferson counties from the mid-1840s to the 1880s. He attended Carthage School and then farmed and logged with his Dad. In 1937, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked on projects in Iowa. During World War II, he was a U.S. Army mess cook and baker at Camp Robinson, supervising and guarding German POWs from 1942-1946. In 1943, he married a Fordyce girl, the former Lois Nadine Massey. They were married for 70 years when she preceded him in death in 2013. Clifton and Lois followed his parents to Phoenix, Arizona in 1946, where he worked as a journeyman baker for Rainbow Baking Company. At the age of 26, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and surrendered to preach the gospel. During his years in Phoenix, he pastored 22nd Ave. Baptist and Pleasant View Baptist churches. In 1971, he realized his dream of returning to Arkansas and brought his wife and youngest children to a farm in Hurricane Creek bottom, Dallas County. There he raised cattle, trees and a large garden, and worked for the Dallas County Road Department. He pastored Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in New Edinburgh and Shady Grove Baptist Church in Dallas County and his ministry also included performing many marriages and officiating at funerals in the area. A love for history, especially Civil War and Arkansas history, led him to search out and pass on stories of Dallas and Cleveland County history to his family and friends. He is survived by three daughters, Ginger (Barry) Draper of Phoenix, Arizona, Mattie (John) Abraham of Montrose, Colorado, Martha (Rob) Worley of Conway, and one son, Loy Marshall of Phoenix, Arizona. Besides his wife, he was preceded in death by a son, Paul Marshall and a daughter, Mary Marshall, and by his sisters, Ethel Atchison and Reba Roscoe. Ten grandchildren survive him: Wendy Jenkins and Karen Draper of Phoenix, Arizona, Aaron Sink of Asheville, North Carolina, Carrie (Alex) Beneke of West Jordan, Utah, Eleasah (Brent) McNabb of Greenbrier, Arkansas, Anna (Mark) Legg of Buffalo, New York, Phillip (Hannah) Worley of The Woodlands, Texas, Rebekah and Abby Worley of Conway and Mariah Marshall of New Jersey. He is also survived by 10 great-grandchildren with another on the way, his sister, Arlene Keeling of Union City, Tennessee, sister-in-law, Joyce Bright of Prescott, Arkansas, and nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at Temple Baptist Church, Fordyce Arkansas on August 6th at 9 a.m., with Dr. Roger Copeland and Bro. Jeremy Horton officiating. Visitation will be on August 5th at Benton Funeral Home from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Interment will follow the funeral at Hampton Springs Cemetery, Carthage, Arkansas. Memorials may be made to The Gideons or to a church or charity of choice. Arrangements by Benton Funeral Home of Fordyce. Romans 8:28: For all things work together for good for them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.