John David Marston

Our family is saddened to report that John Marston died February 11, while he was working on a spring up in the pasture.

John was born to Jack and Bertie Anne Marston, in an ambulance while heading to Prineville Memorial Hospital. He attended grade school in Ashwood and high school in Culver, where he participated in basketball, football, track and FFA.

He attended Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, Oregon for a short period of time. While in school, John and his brothers spent summers doing contract hay hauling in Ashwood and Madras.

At 18 years of age, he got started with PCA and bought his first head of heifers. He spent 1973 in Redmond, working for the K & B Cattle Company and chaining juniper trees in Jefferson County. He then returned to full-time ranching on the home place in Ashwood. John was a tremendous support for his parents. He enjoyed breaking and training horses and team roping.

In 1976, John's interest in education was rekindled when Penny Fisher signed a contract to teach in the Ashwood Grade School. After many trips to the school to empty trash cans, hang stage curtains for programs and coach the students in baseball and basketball, John and Penny were married Nov. 18, 1978.

John was selected as the 1980 Jefferson County Cattleman of the Year. He was a member of the Ash Butte Grange for multiple years and has served as Master. He served on the Ashwood School Board for many years, was one of the original founding members of the Ashwood Antelope Rangeland Fire Protection Association, helped with the Jefferson County FFA Auction, the annual St. Patrick's Cowdeo and at the Central Oregon Auction Yard. John enjoyed deer and elk hunting and in later years, fishing trips on the Rogue and Coquille rivers with his brothers and Uncle Ronald. John and his son, Travis, enjoyed spending time working at their juniper sawmill together.

John was proceeded in death by his parents. He is survived by wife, Penny; their son, Travis; brothers, Alex and Chris; sisters, Kay and Anne; along with extended family, including numerous nephews, nieces and cousins who greatly admired and respected him. John was a man who was loyal to his family, his neighbors and friends. He will be missed by many.

A celebration of life service will be held at the Ashwood Grange Hall Saturday, February 22, at 1 p.m., to be followed by a Bar-B-Que and Potluck to which all are welcome. Please bring a written favorite memory and/ or photo of John for the memory book.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made toward the John Marston Memorial Scholarship Fund at Columbia Bank in Madras. This will be awarded to a 2020 graduating Culver High School student who wishes to pursue further education, and has demonstrated moral character and community service.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John David Marston, please visit our floral store.