Butler woman raised 64 foster children during 85-year life
She could have been anything, but Roberta “Bobbie” Lee Marshall, 85, of Butler chose to be a mother to many.
In addition to her five biological children, Marshall raised 64 foster children for periods of between a month and over a year, until they could be placed in more permanent homes.
Marshall believed that giving the infants a loving environment could help them grow into a better life, according to her daughter, Susan Tassey of Butler.
“She just had so much love in her heart,” Tassey said. “For the sake of the babies, she gave them such a good start in life.”
Marshall died Aug. 31 due to complications from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to her obituary.
Tassey said her mother began caring for the children through Catholic Charities of Butler in 1980. By that time Marshall already had one grandchild, and more were on the way.
Tassey said a lot of people remember her mother that way: always having a baby with her until she stopped fostering in 2002, shortly after her second husband's death. By that time Marshall was primarily working through Children's Home of Pittsburgh.
“People got to know her at church, and they'd say 'Oh, where's your baby?'” Tassey said. “People were just used to her having a baby.”
Tassey said her mother cared for the babies with the same calm, motherly charms she remembered from her own childhood.
“She was a wonderful mother,” Tassey said. “My mom kept everything pretty peaceful. She was a very calm and peaceful and nurturing mother.”
Barry Titler, the husband of another of Marshall's daughters, Beth Titler, said he had known Marshall for nearly 45 years before her death.
“She was a saint from the first day I met her to the last,” Barry Titler said. “She was exceptionally compassionate and exceptionally resilient.”
He said no one ever questioned Marshall's dedication to the children.
“She was focused on those children, with whatever circumstance they came from that they had the opportunity to do better,” he said. “She was the first mother they ever had. That was the first experience of someone who was there to care for them and, like a parent, to give them unqualified love.”
He said Marshall never backed down from a challenging baby either, like those suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome or were born to drug-addicted mothers. Titler said she continued to fawn over those babies with the same practiced patience as the others.
“Never did she say, 'Oh, I won't take that one,'” he said. “I think she felt an even stronger pull toward those children, because those children needed her most.”
Beth Titler said her mother was her greatest role model — a woman who seemed to always pick herself up from any adversity and keep moving.
“She did bury two husbands. That's hard to get back from,” Beth Titler said. “She would grieve and then make herself go out every day.”
Beth Titler said even after her mother stopped fostering babies, she loved to go dancing and socializing with friends.
But Marshall's step back from fostering infants didn't mean she stopped caring about the ones that had come and gone.“She took pride in that they were doing so well,” Beth Titler said. “If we went out at Christmas time, she would get out all the Christmas cards. The foster home would send pictures. Some kids would send pictures that they drew. It all just said, 'Look how well they're doing.'”Barry Titler said many parents remember Marshall's hand in their children's successes.“She would be standing on her porch and a car would pull up and a family would get out,” Barry Titler said. “This would happen three, four, five times a year. The people felt comfortable coming back to her home.”Marshall's family conducted services last week. Many reflected on their relationship, the lessons and guidance of Bobbie Marshall, but most remembered the role she played, the mother to many.Barry Titler said he'll never forget the moment when he realized to what depth a person could care. It was a conversation he once had with Marshall.“You know you're among the brightest people I know. In any other age, you could have been a lawyer and a doctor and a scientist, anything you wanted,” Barry Titler said he told his mother-in-law. “She kind of pursed her lips together and looked at me, and she said 'I've been everything I wanted to be. I was a mother, a homemaker, a foster parent. Those are the things important to me.'”
