Anna C. Marshall

Anna (Chapar) Marshall, 89, passed away peacefully on July 29 at her home in Trumbull.

The youngest child of George and Mary Chapar, who immigrated from Syria to Bridgeport in the 1920s, Anna was immensely proud of her family’s history and heritage. Her love of cooking, especially homemade Syrian food, brought smiles to generations of the extended Marshall family.

Anna was happily married to her darling husband of 61 years, William A. Marshall, whom she met in 1949 while working at Dean’s Cleaners in Bridgeport making $0.59/hour. On their first dinner date at Dominic’s on Boston Avenue, Anna and Bill shared salad and one bowl of spaghetti for $7.00. She paid and he promised, “I will pay you back,” a debt he would repay many times over. Little did they know, Anna and Bill would share hundreds of bowls of spaghetti and homemade meatballs with their family in the decades to come. They married on December 26, 1950 in Coral Gables, FL and later became lifelong residents of Trumbull, where they raised their four children, William Jr., Carol, Marianne, and Ronald. The couple owned and operated their business, William A. Marshall Inc. U.S. Customs House Broker, where they worked as licensed customs brokers importing goods from around the world. Anna later recalled how she wished she was home to welcome her children off the bus from school, but with her husband, she knew their sacrifice would provide a better life for their family.

Following their retirement in 1990, at the ages of 58 and 60, Anna and Bill spent their years traveling, vacationing at their winter home in Lake Worth, FL, and cherishing countless memories with their adoring children and grandchildren, who knew them affectionately as Gram and Pop. The couple was never prouder than when attending the college graduations of their seven grandchildren.

Anna, the matriarch of our family, was predeceased by her husband and her three siblings, Nicholas Chapar, Helen Mezias, and Sandra Hawkins. Anna’s memory will be celebrated by her many friends and family, especially her four children (William Marshall Jr. and wife Amy Newman of Arlington, VA, Carol Dargon and husband Thomas Sr. of Trumbull, Marianne Davenport and husband Chuck of Shelton, and Ronald Marshall and partner Don Growhoski of Fairfield), seven grandchildren (Micaela Marshall of Fairfield, Jordan Parsons and husband Travis Parsons of Annandale, VA, William Marshall III of Washington, DC, Gregory Marshall of Fairfield, Thomas Dargon Jr. of Washington, DC, Matthew Marshall of Boston, MA, and Magen Dargon of Fairfax, VA), two great-granddaughters (Avery *Anna* Parsons and Cameron Parsons of Annandale, VA), and sister-in-law (June Marshall of Bridgeport). The family extends their heartfelt thanks to Anna’s caretakers, Yola and Evelyn.

A private burial was held on July 31. The family will arrange a memorial service next year.

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