Alfonso Marsh II

Alfonso "Rick" Maurice Marsh, II
Born in 1949, in El Paso, TX, died at his home in Issaquah,
WA.
Rick grew up seeing many locations throughout Canada, US, and
Europe while growing up in a military family. He graduated from
Medical Lake H.S. in Cheney, WA.
Alfonso enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17.
Alfonso is a Vietnam Veteran and spent his service years in the
Navy as part of the Western Pacific Fleet (West Pac) from June 29,
1966 to February 20, 1970. He spent a total of 3 years, 7 months,
and 22 days as an active duty sailor. Alfonso sailed on two ships
that stopped in many exotic ports of call: Hawaii, Guam, Okinawa,
Formosa, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, and Japan. The
USS Pickaway APA 222 (September 29, 1966) was based out of San
Diego and the USS Windham County LST 1170 (January 16, 1969) was
based out of Yokosuka, Japan. Alfonso's father was a 25-plus year
veteran of the Air Force. Rick's younger brother, Michael also
served in the navy. The two brothers ran into each other while
their ships were at anchor in Subic Bay, The Philippines - a day
Rick will never forget.
After being Hon. Discharged in 1970, Alfonso started working for
Montgomery Wards. In 1972 he began working for Pacific Northwest
Bell and not long after he met his wife to be Marsha. They were
married in Spokane, WA in 1974. After earning his B.A. in Business
Administration from Whitworth College the family now with two
rambunctious boys: Alfonso III, (1975) and Cory (1976) moved to
Seattle in 1979. Completing the family was Melissa (1982).
Rick enjoyed family life. He was active in Boy Scouts: camping
and hiking alongside his two boys who achieved the rank of Eagle
Scout. He had a great time being the umpire for Melissa's softball
league. He never forgot the disagreements they had on the field
when Melissa thought she had a ball, but he saw a strike. He was
also active in the Tukwila School District Equity Task Force and
other school district committees.
Working in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years:
Pacific Northwest Bell, USwest Communications, AT&T and
MetroNet. Rick also did short stints with several smaller companies
including Adaptive Instillations and enjoyed touring the country
working for Amtrak on the Seattle to Chicago line. Finally he ended
his working career with the US Postal Service as a mail carrier in
the Seattle area.
In April 2009 Rick was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer. It was a
tough three years but he fought with courage and hope. This past
July, Rick, Marsha, Sharon, Manual, and Rhonda enjoyed a scenic
cruise to Alaska.
The family is very thankful for all the help, support, and love
we have received. Rick's cancer care network was always there to
help rally whenever a need arose.