Obituary: Ray Marshall

Ray Marshall of Brooklyn, formerly of Montclair,  died at his home on Jan. 1, 2023. He was 60. 

Mr. Marshall was born in 1962 in Glen Ridge, the only child of Marjorie Marshall, who died when he was very young, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents, the late Page and Fannie Marshall. 

He grew up in Montclair, where he attended the public schools and graduated from Montclair High School in 1980. He was active in recreational and scholastic sports, including basketball, track and Mountie football, where he played running back.

He loved working in the cooking industry. He grew up working in his aunt and uncle’s Montclair-based catering business and graduated in 2017 from the Professional Culinary Academy, Monticello, New York. 

He worked in New York restaurants until the pandemic shutdown and recently was taking additional culinary training.

At the time of his death, he was employed by New York-based Black Veterans for Social Justice as a residential aide at a men’s shelter. 

Mr. Marshall is survived by his aunt, Jean Marshall Hogan; cousins, Lynn McFarlane, Robin Jackson, Renee Washington, Lucille Eshelman, April Paul, Valerie Lacey, Leta Lacey, Peter Marshall and Earl McClendon, and close friends and other relatives.

In 2022 he lost his beloved companion, Wanda Black, also a former Montclair resident.

A Celebration of Life memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m. at Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 27 Monroe Place, Montclair.

Arrangements were by Brooklyn Funeral Home & Cremation Service.