Martius L. "Marsh" Elmore

Mr. Martius Lee Elmore, 87, died January 19th at his home, Sunrise Senior Living Center, in Arlington, Massachusetts. Known to all as Marsh, he was born on April 10th, 1928, to Lynnwood King and Dorothy Bell Elmore in Hartford, Connecticut. He grew up in West Hartford, CT, graduating from Hall High School. He attended Wesleyan College, where he earned a BA and went on to study at Ohio State University, earning an MA in English. During the Korean War, Marsh served in the U.S. Army.

Marsh was known to many as a popular and gifted teacher. He spent the majority of his career (1966-1989) teaching English and film at Manchester Community College in Manchester, CT. He had a quick mind, a wry sense of humor, a penchant for absent-mindedness, and a great love of film. In a neat and careful hand, he also chronicled the minutiae of daily life, recording details of restaurant meals, fractions of cigarettes smoked, visitors to the Cape Cod cottage, and books and periodicals he'd read.

While working at a Hartford area bank following his college graduation, Marsh was smitten with another young employee, Eleanor Ritchie. They married in 1953 and raised two children in Rochester, NY, and later, Manchester, CT. He and Ellie, who pre-deceased Marsh in 2012, spent much of their retirement enjoying the arts together in New York City, Boston and Provincetown.

Marsh is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Lynn and Dan Strano of Binghamton, NY, and his son and daughter-in-law, Todd and Susan Elmore of Arlington, MA. He also leaves his only grandson, Jackson Elmore, of Arlington, MA. In his years at Sunrise, Marsh's extended family grew to include his dedicated and loving caregiver Janet Williams.

Family and friends will honor and remember Marsh's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street, (Rte. 20), Waltham on Saturday, January 23rd, from 2-4 pm followed by a period of memory sharing.

Memorial donations may be made to The Center for Coastal Studies, 115 Bradford Street, Provincetonw, MA 02657, www.coastalstudies.org or to The Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford Street, Provincetown, MA 02657, www.provincetowntheater.org.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 122 -

The gift you gave me, a copybook, has already been filled in my imagination – with verses that will stay in my memory far longer than they would in that pathetic book, outlasting any date, for eternity: or at the very least, as long as my brain and heart have the ability to survive. You will be recorded there until each of them has to give you up as they pass into oblivion. That poor book couldn't hold as much, nor do I need to keep notes to record the deep love I have for you. So I took the liberty of giving it away, trusting to that book that presents you more accurately. Keeping a written record of you would be admitting that I'm forgetful.