Steven L. Marshall was born to Lloyd and Melanie Marshall on July 15, 1959, in Oxford, MS. Steve was the first of eight children, five boys and three girls. Both Lloyd and Melanie came from large families, so the kids grew up with plenty of cousins to play with. The Marshall home was always busy with family and friends in and out all the time.
Lloyd and Melanie loved to entertain in their home and often invited people over on the weekends for cookouts or to play cards and other games.
When Steve was 14, he got a job as a bagger at a nearby grocery store. At work one day, he saw a girl at the magazine rack, looking at a Casper the Friendly Ghost comic book. When she came to the counter to pay, he told her he was a Casper fan too. She said her name was Elizabeth Finch. The two of them became great friends, often sharing and reading comic books together in those early years and later double-dating in high school.
As they did whenever one of their kids made a new friend, Steve's parents invited Elizabeth's family over for one of their weekend cookouts. It wasn't long before they, too, became very close friends.
In 1975, the Marshalls invited the Finches to the annual Marshall family reunion, and the Finch family has been on the guest list every year since.
Steve married his high school sweetheart, Ellen Riddle, in 1978, and they have three children, all boys. Steve and Elizabeth have remained close friends, and he and his family have often spent time with Elizabeth and her husband and son through the years.
When Lloyd and Melanie Marshall retired, Steve took over organizing the reunion from them. The most recent Marshall family reunion was held on Saturday, August 20, 2022.
