Personal Fundraiser

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memorial fundraiser created by

The Marshall Family

MY PROGRESS

$1,900.00

RAISED

of my

$5,000.00

GOAL

MY DONORS

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Bill Marshall (Wilbert Joseph Jr., Billy Boy, Red Dog, Dad & Grandpa)

Pragmatic, logical, introverted, focused, smart, goofy and strong-willed.

Bill Marshall was an honest and straight-forward man of high character who created a beautiful, family-focused life for himself, his wife (Iris) and his three children. Originally born into a household of small means, and with the loving guidance of his parents (Wilbert Sr. and Edna), he secured a solid education and successfully contributed as a Mechanical and Electrical Engineer in his early career; and then as a Manufacturing Executive for large multinational companies before he retired. He was a successful man by all accounts, as he was a wonderful husband, provider, father, son, brother, leader and friend.

This great man left us in early 2018 as the result of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), ten months after his diagnosis. For those unfamiliar, MDS is a cancer that occurs when damaged blood-forming cells within the bone marrow creates low counts of red and/or white blood cells. In Bill’s case, his extremely low red cell count transported too little oxygen to his vital organs. At times, Bill felt as though he was drowning, but while quietly sitting in his chair.

This disease is lesser known than other cancers, which caused confusion in our original diagnosis and appropriate treatment. That is until we researched and spoke with Dr. Joachim Deeg at the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Within one phone consultation, Dr. Deeg reset our understanding, expectations and treatment options. As a result, Dr. Deeg set a new course for us which extended Bill’s life by at least three months. These months were of much higher quality than what he had previously experienced before we spoke with Dr. Deeg.

Our family wishes to increase awareness of this disease to ensure nobody muddles through the misunderstanding and confusion we experienced early-on. More importantly, we believe this disease can be successfully treated with further research and development, as Dr. Deeg and his team are undertaking.

We wish to thank the following for all they’ve done to help Bill during his battle with MDS and, perhaps more importantly, to help all others who suffer from this debilitating disease in the future:

Dr. Joachim Deeg, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington

(Who proved that one man can make a tremendous difference with one small, selfless act)

Dr. Rupesh Parikh, Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada (Henderson, Nevada)

(Who demonstrated the importance of fighting for the right medical care, as not all doctors are not the same. Dr. Parikh is a brilliant hematologist, exceptional communicator and compassionate care-giver. We are forever grateful he accepted our late-stage case)

St. Rose Dominican Hospital – Siena Campus (Henderson, NV)

(Whose extraordinary staff provided the most professional medical care and warm support of Bill and our family throughout his final week and hours. The compassion of this organization is beyond what we could have wished or imagined)

You, our friends, family and co-workers

(Without your benevolent kindness and support, we could not have survived. We are blessed to have you in our lives)


God Bless you all.