Valley loses author, educator, citizen

By Jennifer Hoegg

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

Hants County has lost a citizen whose lifelong dedication to creativity and community service touched many.

St. Croix’s Audrey Marsh’s accomplished more in her 96 years than most people ever will. Known throughout the Maritimes as an award-winning author, Marsh was also a poet, artist, musician, gardener, dedicated teacher, mother, grandmother and volunteer.

Marsh passed away at Dykeland Lodge, March 14, surrounded by family. She is survived by her five children, nine grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, a sister, many nieces and nephews, and countless friends and fans.

Born Audrey Jean Thomson in 1911, Marsh grew up in Curry’s Corner on Tongue Hill. Being a teenager during the Depression, daughter Jane Sheppard says, shaped her mother’s character for life. “She learned at an early age what it was to work hard.”

Her mother’s love of the written word also began young, Sheppard said. “She loved poetry from an early age. Even in her 90’s she would recite poetry.”

Marsh had told loved ones that she committed her favourite poems to memory, out of fear she would lose her ability to see and read as she aged. Her passion for reading, writing and storytelling was one that Marsh strived to instill in generations of children.

Award winning storyteller

After several years of publishing short stories in local publications, Marsh combined her love of history and storytelling to write and publish Smoke over Grand Pre, with friend Marion Davison. Published in 1983, the children’s novel of the Acadian expulsion was awarded a Nova Scotia’s Writer’s Federation Award. One reviewer praised the authors’ “efforts to present a historical novel without bias.”

Marsh was also lauded for her recounting of the region’s United Empire Loyalist heritage in her later books -- the Amos Trilogy: Amos Elliot, Loyalist; Amos and the Bear; and Amos and Orphy. The Amos books continue to be used in the province’s elementary language arts programs.

Marsh’s contributions to the province’s education system were many.

Beginning her 28-year career in the classroom at only 19, Marsh taught in tiny schoolhouses, heated by teacher-tended coal stoves.

In a time when Nova Scotian teachers could not marry without permission, Marsh rebelliously eloped with Gordon Marsh, keeping the marriage secret until the end of that school year. She then stayed home to mother the couples’ five children, returning to the classroom the moment teachers with families were considered employable.

As a dedicated teacher in St. Croix, Three Mile Plains and Newport Station, Marsh touched the lives of countless children. “So many people remember her,” Sheppard said. “One of her students wrote to say she could be stern, but kind and never mean.”

Continued contributions

In retirement, Marsh continued her contributions to education, with many visits to local schools to enthusiastically discuss her books and writing.

Marsh received countless letters from young fans. “A lot of children have written to my mother from all over the Maritimes, and my mother valiantly tried to answer each one,” Sheppard recounted.

Sheppard feels that the continued use of Marsh’s work in local schools is “an ongoing tribute to her.”

Well known for her vibrant personality and lively sense of humour, Marsh was busy and laughing well into her retirement.

In addition to writing, Marsh thrived on a variety of creative pursuits. Taking up a brush late in life, Marsh enjoyed painting well into her 80’s. She won several local prizes for her oil paintings of Maritime scenes.

Guitar, photography needlework, gardening and travel also kept her occupied.

Great lovers of the outdoors, Audrey and Gordon developed beautiful gardens on their St. Croix property. Well into her 90’s, Marsh could name every tree and bush on the lot, despite the ravages of Alzheimer’s.

Dedicated to her community and always available to help, Marsh was a longtime member of the Ste. Croix United Church Women’s Group. She often decorated the church with flowers from her own well-tended gardens, just two doors away. In addition, she was an active participant in the Nova Scotia Writers’ Federation for many years.