Dixie Beard Marshall

Dixie Beard Marshall was born at a very early age on May 31st, 1929, to doting parents H.M. “Buster” Beard and Elizabeth Foreman Beard, she was raised in Beaumont, Texas and attended South Park Schools. As a teen she took voice lessons from Eloise Milam founder of Beaumont’s Melody Maids that performed from 1942 to 1972 and toured with the group as they promoted bond sales throughout the United States. She was a lyric soprano and sang her entire life with choirs and church groups. Dixie attended Centenary College in Shreveport, LA. studying within the Fine Arts. She gradated with a Master’s degree in Art from University of Houston, where she met the love of her life R. B. “Burt” Marshall Jr., then of Silsbee, Texas. They were married August 6th, 1949, and were inseparable till his passing in 2007, after 58 years. Dixie taught art both privately and publicly for decades while living and raising her sons with R.B. in Bridge City, Texas. She taught Art I, II and III at Bridge City High School during the 70s and 80s. She left public teaching to own and operate Mini Arts and Flowers in Bridge City, which allowed her talent to shine in the design of both fresh and silk flower arrangements, while teaching oil painting. She was extremely talented as a portrait artist and won awards both within state and nationally for her oil and watercolor paintings. In the early 80s, Dixie left the states with R.B. as he accepted a position with Aramco Oil as a Professional Mechanical Engineer in Saudi Arabia. They traveled the world and lived life to its fullest. They retired for several years in Ottery St. Mary, Devon England and moved back to the states and built their final home in Wimberley, Texas. Together they followed their passion for travelling and would spend summers restoring and eventually launching and motor sailing the “Dixie Rose” a classic gillnetter wooden yacht around the San Juan Islands in Washington. After R.B.’s passing, she moved to Mt. Sylvan, Texas, outside of Tyler, Texas, to be near her youngest son and family and opened and ran an antique shop for many years. She was a member of the Methodist Church of Mt. Sylvan, a life-long member of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority and an avid gardener. She was the author of three books, including her last in 2024, “The Adventures of Dolly Dachshund” that is a collection of 35 children’s stories that she wrote about and illustrated for newspapers in S.E. Texas in the early 60s. She is preceded in death by her parents “Buster and Elizabeth Beard, her husband R.B., daughter-in-law Leta Currie Marshall and granddaughter Wendy Rene Marshall. She is survived by eldest son Stewart D. Marshall of Lopez Island, WA., middle son Ross S. Marshall of Anacortes, WA., Kevin S. Marshall, wife Kathy Grayson Marshall of Mt. Sylvan, TX. (Tyler), grandsons Alex Marshall his wife Masha and great-grandsons Nicholas and Peter Marshall of Overland Park, KS. and Paul “Jake” Marshall of Mt. Sylvan Texas. Her family was and will always be proud of her many talents and accomplishments, but mostly for her great humor and vest for life, which she exhibited all her years. Graveside services are scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Thursday, January 8, 2026 at Hillcrest Memorial Garden at the crypt in the Garden of the Last Supper under the direction of Claude Rutledge Funeral Home in Lindale, Texas.

Dixie Beard Marshall

May 31, 1929 - December 22, 2025