Thelma Christine Marsh

Thelma Christine Marsh, 94, of Greene, passed peacefully on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, at the Greene Community Center, with visitation held one hour prior to the service. Chris will be laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery in Greene following the service. Lunch will be provided at the Greene Community Center after the interment. Woodley Funeral Home of Greene is caring for Chris and her family.

Thelma was born March 1, 1930 to Paul and Diana Shupe in Austinville, VA, a small town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia. She enjoyed growing up near her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins whom she saw frequently. In 1949, she graduated from Jackson Memorial High School and enlisted in the United States Air Force. She was known as Thelma while growing up in VA, but she became “Chris” when an Air Force colleague insisted “Chris” was a more contemporary name than “Thelma.”

Chris went through 12-weeks of basic training in San Antonio, TX, and received teletype operator training in Cheyenne, WY. She first served as a teletype operator at the McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, WA. To be closer to her family in the Blue Ridge Mountains, she eventually transferred and served in the 31st Air Division at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, Minn., where she met Donovan D. Marsh, the love of her life.

Don was a crypto/teletype machine mechanic servicing the teletype equipment for Chris. He found a frequent need to adjust the “touch” of her keyboard to meet her needs. He further impressed Chris with his starched, pressed fatigues. Don invited Chris to ride with him in his car to the commissary for a meal. Chris said yes and got into the backseat of the car, because she didn’t want to appear “forward.” On the drive back, Don convinced her to join him in the front seat.

A few days later, Don was driving into the base and saw Chris walking down the sidewalk. He waved at Chris, but Chris didn’t acknowledge him. Don decided “that iceberg has got to be conquered.” After beating out other suitors, Don proposed and Chris accepted his proposal to become a farmer’s wife in January 1953. Chris was honorably discharged from the Air Force in February 1953. Don and Chris were married on Aug. 8, 1953, in Hillsville, VA.

Don and Chris lived in Minneapolis, MN, until Don was discharged from the Air Force in January 1955. They moved to Floyd County, IA, and began their farming business. Don and Chris welcomed their first child, Craig Donovan, in April 1956. Angela Christine was added to the family in December of 1958. Chris was a devoted wife and mother. Don and Chris enjoyed 61-1/2 years of marriage.

Chris is survived by her son Craig (Nancy), daughter Angela (Brian), grandson Alexander (Jet), sister and brothers-in law, Marlene (Jacobson) Marsh, Bill and Pat (Marsh) Fluhrer, Dennis and Nancy Marsh. Plus, several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Chris was preceded in death by her husband Donovan D. Marsh, parents Paul J. and Diana Shupe, sister Alene (Shupe) Jones, brother Paul J. Shupe, Jr., in-laws Walter and Doris (Knoop) Marsh and brother-in-law Dixon Marsh.

Memorials may be directed to the Thelma C. Marsh Memorial Fund, PO Box 219, Greene, Iowa 50636.