Guy Reeves Marston, M.E.I.C., 91, of 8 Groff St., Simcoe, died Monday in Norfolk General Hospital. 

Born 22 May 1879 in Birmingham, England, he was the son of the late Thomas Marston and the former Harriet Reeves.

Guy received his early schooling in London, then graduated Birmingham Technical School as a civil engineer. He worked for a few years in the Birmingham and in later years liked to reminisce about his early days in Birmingham.

He was well acquainted with members of the Chamberlain family, particularly Austin Chamberlain, who would become Britain's Foreign Secretary, and Neville Chamberlain, who as Prime Minister would lead Great Britain into war against Hitler.

The late Mr. Marston came to Canada in 1902 and joined C. C. Fairchild, then government land surveyor for Alberta. Then he came to Ontario and joined Howard Fairchild, then Norfolk County engineer. He made his home in Simcoe in 1910 and resided here for the next 60 years.

He was named town engineer for Simcoe in 1911, in which capacity he served for 30 years, rendering yeoman service in the early development of business and industrial concerns, surveying and laying out properties, and providing needed facilites, paved roads and bridges. 

There was not a paved road in Simcoe when he took office. In 1916 Mr. Marston supervised the first road-paving work on Colborne Street, followed by Norfolk Street South in 1919.

Meanwhile he was named County Engineer of Norfolk in December 1913. Four years later, in 1917, he became Norfolk's first county roads superintendent. He established the first county roads system and brought it to the peak of excellence.

Under his supervision the network of roads burgeoned until at his retirement it encompassed 220 miles, virtually all of which had black top or pavement. In addition, the townships of Norfolk, which he also served, had some 200 miles of black top, the highest percentage of any county in Ontario. Our present system of highways stands as a monument to the late Guy R. Marston.

As county engineer, Mr. Marston was responsible for supervising all bridge and culvert construction. He also served as engineer for every township and village in the county at one time or another.

One of the oldest and most popular citizens of Norfolk, Mr. Marston was generally acknowledged to have been one of the most valuable public servants in this county during the past half century.

He was one of the founders of the Ontario Good Roads Association and became its president. He was also active in the Canadian Good Roads Association.

Among other professional honours, he was a member of he Professional Engineers of Ontario from 1922 onward. He was made a life member of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1951.

In 1964 Mr. Marston retired from the office of County Engineer, a position which he had filled most capably for a full 50 years. At the same time he retired from the position of County Roads Superintendent, an office which he had held for almost an equal length of time, during which he built Norfolk's first-class system of county roads from scratch.

A testimonial banquet in 1964 brought out one of the most representative assemblies of public officials and just plain friends in Norfolk's history. It included nearly all living Norfolk officials, past and present, Ontario cabinet ministers and friends from the Good Roads Association.

Apart from his vocation as engineer and road-builder, Mr. Marston in earlier years took a prominent role in community activity in Simcoe. He was a member of the Simcoe Board of Education. He was charter vice president and afterwards president of the Simcoe Rotary Club when was founded in 1925. He was chairman of the Simcoe Community Welfare League during the depression years of the thirties. He was a member of Trinity Anglican Church. 

Since his retirement Mr. Marston had done a bit of travelling and managed a few fishing trips. But generally he was content to remain at home, to enjoy the visits of long-time friends, to go to the Norfolk Administration building once or twice a week and to watch the growth of the road system which he pioneered.

He returned to England only once, in 1922, for a holiday. But the Old Country did not seem the same to him. He was glad to come back to his adopted country. He was always a great booster for Simcoe and Norfolk County, which he considered 'tops.' In his passing both town and district lost a great servant and countless citizens lost a warm friend.

Surviving are [sic] his wife, the former Florence May Malcolm. 

Funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Baldock Funeral Home. Rev. Harvey Parker and the Venerable Guy Marston, Quebec City, will officiate. Donations to the Rotary Crippled Children's Fund will be accepted at the funeral home. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery.