PAW Obituary:
Alex Strother Marshall '86, the financial analyst and avid sailor and golfer, died on January 30, 2022.
After graduating with an AB degree in Economics, Marshall started a career as a financial analyst exploring a wide range of industries, but often concentrating on the energy and building trades. He remained intensely curious about all aspects of capital allocation and worked for both investment firms and funds on both the buy and sell side. Along the way, he earned an MBA from the University of Texas and was named a Wall Street Journal All Star for his fundraising.
At Princeton, Marshall was a member of Cottage Club and the Sailing Team. After graduation, he developed an intense interest in golf which reflected his devotion to precision and focus.
The class of 1986 extends our deepest sympathies to his wife, Anne Colberg Marshall, and their two children, Taylor and Blake.
Funeral Home Obituary:
Alexander Strother Marshall, 57, died at his home in Cohasset, MA on Sunday, January 30, 2022. He leaves behind his wife of 29 years Anne C Marshall née Hermansen, formerly of Bornholm, Denmark, their daughter Taylor, 18, and son Blake, 14.
The son of J. Howard Marshall, Jr. and Penelope Spurr Marshall, Alex was born August 24, 1964 in White Plains, New York and grew up in Irving-ton-on-Hudson, New York, graduating from Irvington High School in 1982. He earned a BA in Economics from Princeton University in 1986 and an MBA from the University of Texas Austin’s McCombs School of Business in 1993, where he graduated with assorted honors for high academic achievement.
Between Princeton and the move to Texas, Alex and Anne lived in the Boston area (the Back Bay and Malden) while he worked for Weil Realty and then Shawmut Bank. They moved to Austin, Texas in 1991 when he became a full time MBA student at McCombs. They were married in 1992, and after his 1993 graduation they remained in Austin for three more years while he
worked as a sell-side analyst for South Coast Capital.
In 1996 he was recruited by Dillon Read and moved to the New York area where Anne later joined him. For his work at Dillon Read, in June of 1998 the Wall Street Journal named him an All-Star Analyst in a list of “Wall Street
Top Guns” for having been most accurate in forecasting the 1997 earnings of companies in the Home Construction industry.
Meanwhile in February of 1998, he and Anne had moved back to the Boston area (Newton and then Cohasset) when he switched to the “buy side” as an analyst for The Boston Company, where he eventually became Portfolio Manager of a Dreyfus Natural Resources mutual fund. During his four years of running that fund, it was twice named a “Category King” by the Wall Street Journal.
The financial crisis of 2008 brought an end to his work at The Boston Company in February of 2009. He then founded Marsh Capital, did some financial consulting work, and managed his own money from home between duties as his family’s chauffeur, gourmet cook and head gardener.
Besides following his children’s artistic and athletic pursuits, Alex enjoyed following the triumphs of the New England Patriots and the Texas Longhorns. He loved to play golf, and once distinguished himself in an Abenakee Club (Biddeford Pool, ME) golf tournament with a hole in one! He enjoyed foreign travel, and in his adventurous youth had traveled by motorcycle
through Canada’s Maritime Provinces with his sister Julia, and across the United States with his future wife Anne.
Entertaining family and friends with his wry humor, Alex enjoyed sharing a comic rejoinder over a text message or a beer. He generously passed along jokes and funny video clips. Smart, analytical and an out-of-the-box thinker, his perspective on a situation or advice was worth seeking out. He contributed to his communities in Boston, Austin and Cohasset as a volunteer, most recently through CERT, Cohasset’s Community Emergency Response Team.
Beyond his own household, Alex is survived by his mother, his four Marshall siblings Tad, Clint (wife Becky), Julia (husband Clark), and Margaret, five nieces and nephews, and seven cousins. He was preceded in death by his father in 1997.
For those who want to express thanksgiving for his life, in lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to the Boston Children’s Hospital Trust, 401 Park Drive, Suite 602, Boston, MA 02215, (617) 355-6890.
