Wallace "Billy" Williams Marshall, Jr

Rev. Wallace W. (Bill) Marshall, Jr. died Saturday, October 17, 2026, in Morehead City, NC after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 90 years of age, the son of Wallace and Katherine Marshall of Reidsville, NC.

Although he was a native of Richmond VA, Bill grew up in Reidsville where he attended elementary, middle and Reidsville High School as a member of the Class of 1954. Both he and his family were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Reidsville.

After high school he attended the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, graduating in 1958 and receiving a commission in the US Navy. After serving in the submarine service, he resigned his commission in 1963 to pursue theological studies and the Christian ministry. Following a one-year Rockefeller Theological Fellowship at Union Theological Seminary in New York, NY, he attended Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia where he met his wife, Gabriele. He received a Master of Divinity degree in 1968. Graduation was followed by ordination to the gospel ministry the same year. After 35 years of serving pastorates in Massachusetts, Alabama, Maryland and North Carolina he and Gabriele retired to the coastal town of Morehead City, NC where Billy enjoyed ocean fishing in his own boat and preached locally for 10 more years and was active in the seaman’s service ministry in the Port of Morehead City. He was also engaged for over a year in training the leader of a local church plant in South Carolina for ordination. Afterwards, he engaged in the weekly training of an indigenous Nicaraguan missionary to remote regions of the country.

Although he had grown up in the Presbyterian Church his life was dramatically altered by the required reading of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion in its entirety in a systematic theology course at Union Seminary in New York. Throughout his 45-year ministry he sought to be faithful to that system of doctrine which had made a deep impression on him in the course of his theological studies.

He is survived by his wife, Gabriele of 59 years (the former Gabriele Rosenau of Philadelphia); sons, Wallace Marshall, III, of Charleston, SC, Calvin Marshall and wife, Karine, of Richmond, VA; along with his daughters, Michal Strickland and husband, Thomas, of Raleigh, NC, Ann Marshall of Lutherville-Timonium, MD, Katherine Laney, of Morrisville, NC and Sarah Mannion and husband, Luke of Briscow, VA. He is also survived by his sister, Katherine Flack of Atlanta, GA (formerly Katherine Marshall of Reidsville, NC) and 14 grandchildren. Billy was preceded in death by his youngest son, Jonathan in 2019 and Wallace’s late wife, Vartika who died in 2024.

The family will receive friends, the night before the funeral service, Friday, October 23, 2026, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Wilkerson Funeral Home, 1909 Richardson Drive, Reidsville, NC 27320. A funeral service will be held at 1 PM on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Main Street United Methodist Church of Reidsville, 221 South Main Street, Reidsville, NC 27320 with Rev. Wes Pitts and Rev. James O’Brien officiating. (Bill intended for his service to be held at his home church, First Presbyterian Church of Reidsville, but due to some technical complications, the Main Street UMC family has welcomed us to worship there, and for that we are most grateful). The interment will follow at Greenview Cemetery in Reidsville with Military Graveside Rites performed by the Rockingham County Honor Guard.

After the funeral and military graveside rites, the family would like to invite those attending to join the family for a time of fellowship, food, and refreshment at the Pennrose Park Country Club, 1622 Country Club Road, Reidsville, NC 27320.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Wilkerson Funeral Home, 1909 Richardson Drive in Reidsville, NC.