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Students' champion remembered at USF

By TIM GRANT
Published April 19, 2005

TAMPA - Phyllis Marshall wanted her own memorial service to be postponed so that people would focus on her life instead of her death.

More than two months after she passed in her sleep Feb. 5, one of the most important figures in the history of the University of South Florida was honored Monday inside the building that bears her name.

"She never had children," said USF president Judy Genshaft. "The USF students were her children. She was responsible for raising hundreds of USF students."

The "Celebration of Life" service drew a crowd of about 300 people who knew and loved Marshall.

Dozens of her family members from West Virginia also were there to hear and witness the endless accolades being showered on the small town country girl who reached a pinnacle of prestige normally reserved for college presidents and multimillion-dollar donors.

Marshall, who was 78 when she died, served as the director of USF's student union from August 1976 until her retirement in June 1994. It was the students at USF who lobbied the state Legislature to name the Marshall Center building after her.

"When Phyllis spoke to you, you got the feeling she saw every bit of potential inside you," said Harold Oehler, a former USF student body president who is now a Tampa lawyer. "She was our champion, and the students decided the building could be named nothing else."

[Last modified April 19, 2005, 01:19:14]