Archives West Finding Aid

Robert Earley Marsh was born in Washington in 1907, and moved with his mother to Portland, Oregon in 1920 after his father was lost to the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. He began taking classes at the North Pacific Dental College in 1929 after a great deal of struggle and effort to raise tuition funds for himself. Marsh took up a variety of work and led a frugal life to make his way into dental school. This included truck driving and part delivery, factory and manufacturing jobs, working on freight ships, and as a fireman for Alaska's fishing canneries. After completing dentistry school, Marsh had no trouble finding patients with which to build a practice but was faced with the challenges of the Depression economy. After trying to start up two practices and finding that patients had trouble paying dental bills in such hard times, Dr. Marsh served in the Civilian Conservation Corps with his dentistry services and then worked for the Veteran's Administration (VA), where he served as assistant and chief dental officer. He continued his career with the VA for 30 years, until his retirement in 1970.