Charles Marston III; proud veteran was a legislator

Charles S. Marston III was known for his patriotism, and his gravestone will reflect that. Engraved on the marker will be the words "Thanks USA."

Mr. Marston of Sarasota, Fla., and formerly of Haverhill, a former state senator and World War II veteran, died April 12 of liver disease at Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire. He was 85 .

"I think he was very proud that he was an American citizen," said his daughter Heidi O'Brien, of Marblehead. "He was in every patriot parade and veterans parade, and always rode in the cars and marched. He was a very proud man."

Mr. Marston was born in Haverhill and attended Haverhill public schools. He graduated from Haverhill High School in 1938 and Tilton Junior College in 1939 , and attended Norwich University before he was drafted to serve in the Massachusetts National Guard in 1941 .

Mr. Marston served in the 26th Infantry Division in Guadalcanal, where he was wounded by shrapnel and contracted malaria, his family said. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters.

He served the remainder of the war in the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C. He later graduated from Bentley College with a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance.

He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1951 for the Third Essex District, and in 1956 was elected state senator for the Fourth Essex Senatorial District . He did not run for reelection in 1958 .

During his political career, Mr. Marston served as chairman of the Committee of Military Affairs and the Committee on Conservation. He was appointed to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission under Christian Herter, then governor , and served two years as chairman of the commission.

James Cullen , who was a Cabinet secretary under Herter, said Mr. Marston was an environmentalist who was instrumental in cleanup of the Merrimack River.

"He was a strong conservationist in his own mind, and he always told me how strongly he felt about the Merrimack, especially because he lived so close to it," Cullen said. "He was just one of the many other legislators that did good work they figured no one would ever hear about."

"I know he was always very concerned about that river, and it meant a lot to him to represent that on the commission," said Mr. Marston's daughter Pamela Woodman, of East Hampstead, N.H.

After leaving his career in the Legislature, Mr. Marston worked for his family's business, an ice skate and athletic shoe manufacturer in Georgetown called C.S. Marston Inc. He later ran his own businesses, including a car dealership called Snow Motors in Haverhill and an insurance company in Groveland called Marston Insurance Agency , from which he retired in 1970 . He also served on the board of directors of Haverhill Savings Bank, his family said.

After he retired, Mr. Marston moved to Sarasota, Fla., spending part of the year in Meredith, N.H.

His family said he was an avid golfer and had a collection of about 400 antique firearms from the Civil War era, which were sold at a Portsmouth auction about four years ago.

Mr. Marston was also a pilot, and flew small single-engine aircrafts, such a Piper J-3 and a Stetson, from a small landing strip in the family's Haverhill backyard.

He was a Scottish Rite 32 d degree Mason , and a member of the Saggahew Lodge A.F. & A.M. ; Veterans of Foreign Wars; and the Sahib Shrine Temple in Sarasota, Fla.

He was married to Anne (McFee) , who died in 2004 .

In addition to his two daughters, he leaves three other daughters, Lydia Doherty of Weston, Charle Crompton of Concord, N.H., and Kathy Goodman of Plaistow, N.H.; 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Farmer and Sons Funeral Home in Haverhill. Burial will follow in Lynnwood Cemetery . A memorial service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Meredith, N.H., at a later date.