Marshall O’Neill

October 30, 1925 - December 30, 2022

Marshall D. O’Neill October 3, 1925 – December 30, 2022

Marshall Davison “Marsh” O’Neill, of Palo Alto passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 30, 2022. He was 97 years old. Marsh was born in El Paso, Texas, to John and Elizabeth Austin O’Neill. After a brief stay in El Paso, Marsh moved west to Phoenix, AZ, and then, right before he entered high school, he moved to Oakland, California.

Marsh graduated from Castlemont High School in Oakland and like a number of his classmates in 1944, he joined the World War II effort and served with the Army Air Corps (the predecessor to the Air Force). Marsh served as an aviation student in the officer’s training program and worked as a classification specialist while awaiting entry into flight training. Although one could not say that Marsh saw the world during his time in our country’s armed services, he did see Amarillo, Texas, Stockton, California, and several other domestic military bases. The war had ended before his unit was to be sent overseas. Shortly after the conclusion of World War II, Marsh returned to Oakland and enrolled in UC Berkeley’s undergraduate program.

1946 turned out to be a momentous year for Marsh. While playing in a pickup football game at a local park, the football was damaged, and Marsh headed off to the recreation shack to see if he could borrow a football. Little did he know that he was going to get more than a football. His encounter with the recreation director, Jeanne Mummert, turned into a love affair and a marriage on his birthday in October. That love affair lasted more than 72 years and Marsh never forgot their anniversary date.

The other big event for Marsh in 1946 was that he was admitted into Stanford University. Although he was married and living off campus, Marsh engaged in several on campus activities while a student at Stanford. He was very active in intermural sports; he served three years as a Student Football Manager and the Senior Manager in the last of the three years. Somehow, in between his studies and athletic interests, he also found the time to be the manager of the Roos Brothers (menswear) Shack, which was located next door to the old bookstore.

Upon graduating from Stanford in 1949, Marsh worked in the Commercial and Complex Sales Division of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company. In 1952 he accepted a position at Stanford’s Microwave Laboratory, the forerunner of what later became the W.W. Hansen High Energy Microwave Laboratory and the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory. Starting as an administrative assistant, he quickly moved through the positions of Assistant Director and acting Associate

Director. He held the position of Associate Director for 30 of his 38 ½ years at Stanford. Upon retirement in 1990, he became the initial recipient of the University’s Marshall D. O’Neill Award for exceptional and enduring support of Stanford University’s research enterprise. The award cites a remarkable list of accomplishments, including: management of more than 700 research projects totaling more than $361 million, which fostered the beginnings of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, high temperature superconductivity, tunneling microscopy, medical accelerators, tests of Einstein’s theory of relativity, free electron and photon research. During his Stanford career he worked with 13 National Academy of science members, 3 Nobel Laureates and roughly 750 Ph.Ds.

For those of us who knew him, we will miss his keen intellect, sly sense of humor, and his ability to deliver the punchline of a joke. He had a broad range of interests; he performed in local productions of Gilbert and

Sullivan operettas; he loved opera and he also enjoyed the humor and drama found in country music lyrics. He had great enthusiasm for the Bay Area sports teams. He was a longtime season ticket holder for Stanford football and the Stanford men’s and women’s basketball teams. Marsh loved living in the Bay Area but he and his wife also loved Maui and they were fortunate to have a second home there for many years. Pre-deceased by his son Steven and by his wife of 72 years, Jeanne, he is survived by his children, Gary (wife, Patricia) and Diane Bet (husband Claudio Bet, M.D.), seven grandchildren, one great grandchild and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank the care givers at the Vi in Palo Alto and the hospice team at Sutter Health for the care they provided during his final days. Per his request, there will not be a memorial service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association or Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.