Photo by Robert Chase
Tom Kirvan
When interviewed for a Legal News feature story in the spring of 2014, Detroit attorney Dick Marsh was firmly ensconced as the president of the Winston Churchill Society of Michigan, an organization formed in the 1980s to “promote the memory of Sir Winston Churchill and the principles that guided his life.”
He saw his duties as president in terms of a “second career” after retiring from his principal responsibilities as a distinguished attorney with what is now known as Clark Hill.
“I have a feeling that this is a lifetime appointment,” Marsh said with a wink.
Indeed it was, sad as it ultimately became when news of Marsh’s death after a long illness was announced in late September.
His passing, which was commemorated during a memorial service on October 12, prompted an outpouring of tributes from his friends and admirers, including fellow Churchill Society member Jerry Fisher, a property law attorney who taught the subject for years at Cooley Law School before retiring.
Fisher and Marsh initially met in the early 1980s as legal adversaries in a zoning matter involving Southfield Township.
“Dick was pursuing zoning litigation against the township on behalf of a cemetery association,” recalled Fisher, who was representing the township in the matter. “Some 25 years later, at a dinner and presentation sponsored by the Winston Churchill Society of Michigan, I learned that Dick was a Winston Churchill fan of huge proportion.”
To say the least, Fisher would soon discover.
“Over a long period, Dick travelled internationally, acquired a collection of museum-quality Churchill documents, and developed friendships with well-known figures having a relationship with Churchill – including attendance at the 89th birthday celebration on the French Riviera of Churchill’s daughter Mary Churchill, Lady Soames.
“Lady Soames, of course, had spent considerable time with Winston, and Dick would regale the Society about being in her company when she would carry on the custom of her father in the enjoyment of smoking cigars,” Fisher related.
Marsh, a product of the University of Michigan and the renowned U-M Law School, grew up in Dearborn, the home of Ford Motor Co.
“I was discriminated against as a kid because my dad was the Chevy dealer there,” Marsh said with a smile during the 2014 interview. “My grandfather started the car dealership in 1933 after losing his job as circulation manager of The Free Press.”
A long and loyal U-M sports fan, Marsh lived for years in a stately home near Ann Arbor. He and his wife, Mary Jo, a retired school teacher, designed and built the home with exquisite attention to detail. At the front of the house is a quaint English courtyard with British lions adorning the bench. The front door features a lion’s head doorknocker in keeping with the style of 10 Downing Street, the home of British prime ministers since 1735.
Inside the home, a magnificent library is lined with Churchill treasures, including countless collectibles, books, letters, documents, and photos of the cigar-chomping war leader. A portrait of Churchill, a replica of a 1941 painting by acclaimed artist Frank Salisbury, sets the tone for the library, which features a stylish fireplace and coffered ceilings. It is accented by furniture modeled after treasured pieces in the grand Althorp House, the English home of the Spencer family that included Lady Diana, the late Princess of Wales. Churchill’s ancestry can be traced to the Spencers, one of the preeminent aristocratic families in Britain.
Marsh’s family ancestry, in turn, was tied to Cutcombe Parish in southwest England, which he and his wife visited with regularity.
“What many people don’t know about Churchill is that he was a war correspondent of great note in the late 1800s before he became involved in politics as a Member of Parliament,” Marsh noted during the interview.
“He wrote for several of Britain’s leading newspapers and also authored several books about his military experiences in the British army.”
In keeping with his British hero, Marsh wrote extensively on Churchill’s life, privately publishing a collection of essays. He also was a sought-after speaker at various Churchill-related events, regularly traveling the country to attend meetings of significance.
“There is never a shortage of Churchill material, that is for sure,” Marsh said in 2014, pointing out that Churchill and his father died at the same hour on the same day of the month some 70 years apart.
That date – January 24, 1965 – was etched in Marsh’s memory, as should be September 27, 2024, the day when one of Churchill’s most faithful followers said his own farewell.
He saw his duties as president in terms of a “second career” after retiring from his principal responsibilities as a distinguished attorney with what is now known as Clark Hill.
“I have a feeling that this is a lifetime appointment,” Marsh said with a wink.
Indeed it was, sad as it ultimately became when news of Marsh’s death after a long illness was announced in late September.
His passing, which was commemorated during a memorial service on October 12, prompted an outpouring of tributes from his friends and admirers, including fellow Churchill Society member Jerry Fisher, a property law attorney who taught the subject for years at Cooley Law School before retiring.
Fisher and Marsh initially met in the early 1980s as legal adversaries in a zoning matter involving Southfield Township.
“Dick was pursuing zoning litigation against the township on behalf of a cemetery association,” recalled Fisher, who was representing the township in the matter. “Some 25 years later, at a dinner and presentation sponsored by the Winston Churchill Society of Michigan, I learned that Dick was a Winston Churchill fan of huge proportion.”
To say the least, Fisher would soon discover.
“Over a long period, Dick travelled internationally, acquired a collection of museum-quality Churchill documents, and developed friendships with well-known figures having a relationship with Churchill – including attendance at the 89th birthday celebration on the French Riviera of Churchill’s daughter Mary Churchill, Lady Soames.
“Lady Soames, of course, had spent considerable time with Winston, and Dick would regale the Society about being in her company when she would carry on the custom of her father in the enjoyment of smoking cigars,” Fisher related.
Marsh, a product of the University of Michigan and the renowned U-M Law School, grew up in Dearborn, the home of Ford Motor Co.
“I was discriminated against as a kid because my dad was the Chevy dealer there,” Marsh said with a smile during the 2014 interview. “My grandfather started the car dealership in 1933 after losing his job as circulation manager of The Free Press.”
A long and loyal U-M sports fan, Marsh lived for years in a stately home near Ann Arbor. He and his wife, Mary Jo, a retired school teacher, designed and built the home with exquisite attention to detail. At the front of the house is a quaint English courtyard with British lions adorning the bench. The front door features a lion’s head doorknocker in keeping with the style of 10 Downing Street, the home of British prime ministers since 1735.
Inside the home, a magnificent library is lined with Churchill treasures, including countless collectibles, books, letters, documents, and photos of the cigar-chomping war leader. A portrait of Churchill, a replica of a 1941 painting by acclaimed artist Frank Salisbury, sets the tone for the library, which features a stylish fireplace and coffered ceilings. It is accented by furniture modeled after treasured pieces in the grand Althorp House, the English home of the Spencer family that included Lady Diana, the late Princess of Wales. Churchill’s ancestry can be traced to the Spencers, one of the preeminent aristocratic families in Britain.
Marsh’s family ancestry, in turn, was tied to Cutcombe Parish in southwest England, which he and his wife visited with regularity.
“What many people don’t know about Churchill is that he was a war correspondent of great note in the late 1800s before he became involved in politics as a Member of Parliament,” Marsh noted during the interview.
“He wrote for several of Britain’s leading newspapers and also authored several books about his military experiences in the British army.”
In keeping with his British hero, Marsh wrote extensively on Churchill’s life, privately publishing a collection of essays. He also was a sought-after speaker at various Churchill-related events, regularly traveling the country to attend meetings of significance.
“There is never a shortage of Churchill material, that is for sure,” Marsh said in 2014, pointing out that Churchill and his father died at the same hour on the same day of the month some 70 years apart.
That date – January 24, 1965 – was etched in Marsh’s memory, as should be September 27, 2024, the day when one of Churchill’s most faithful followers said his own farewell.
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