Moses Lake loses a pioneer, civic leader

MOSES LAKE — Past mayor and civic leader of Moses Lake Marshall Burress passed away surrounded by friends and family.

“He had no health issues, it was just time,” said daughter Carla McKean. “He told my sister and I he loved us and I held his hand as he passed away.”

Burress was 94 years old when he passed away Jan. 2.

“My dad was always helping others, giving much and asking for little in return,” McKean said. “He trusted in his fellow men and always had a vision for the future of this area, knowing it would grow and prosper.”

Burress served many leadership roles in Moses Lake, which included president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, City of Moses Lake council member and president of the Lions Club and the Moses Lake Golf and Country Club. He was instrumental in bringing the fair and rodeo to Moses Lake and donated land and helped plant trees at Blue Heron Park.

“Marshall was one of the founders of the area and is a definite instrument in making Moses Lake what it was in the 1950s, which allowed it to grow into the city it is today,” said friend Ron Covey. “He was heavily involved in the development of the business area and district. We can attribute much of the growth in our businesses to him.”

Covey knew Burress for 40 years.

“He was just a nice guy,” Covey said. “He was the kind of guy you could just sit and talk with.”

Burress and his family homesteaded to the Columbia Basin in 1921 after seeing pictures of orchards near Moses Lake. There were only 150 people living in Moses Lake, then named Neppel, McKean said.

“My grandparents had a 30-acre farm in what is now downtown Moses Lake,” McKean said. “They raised fruit trees, such as apricots and apples. They also owned a butcher shop on Alder Street and my dad helped out at both the farm and the shop.”

Burress played basketball at Neppel High School. He was gregarious, charming and inventive, family and friends said.

“He had lots of friends always,” said Burress’ sister Bonnie Cole. “He would always bring his boys home to eat my mother’s apple pie. She’d always make an extra pie for the family because she knew Marshall’s friends would be coming over.”

Cole said Burress and her were always tight-knit.

“I was close to him. He was a good big brother,” Cole said. “We were the last two kids left at home and we did a lot of things together.”

Cole’s best memories with her brother include going for drives on Sundays and playing board games.

“He called me ‘doll’ and was always kidding me,” Cole said.

Burress hung out with a group of about eight guys.

“He and his group of friends were definitely the ‘Rat Pack’ of Moses Lake at the time,” Cole said. “They hung out a lot and always played cards together at the Porterhouse. They did this even after they retired.”

Burress was known for driving a Cadillac and sporting a Fedora hat, tipped to the side.

“He was the life of the party,” McKean said, chuckling. “If you could call his friend group the ‘Rat Pack,’ he would have been the leader. He was that magnanimous and that much of a maverick.”

Burress graduated from high school in 1933. There were four boys and three girls in the class.

Burress went into the gasoline business with his older brother, Carl Burress, around 1935. He helped out on his family farm on the side, before the farm died out and downtown Moses Lake was built.

“He was more interested in oil and gasoline,” McKean said. “But he always had a little farm on the side he worked on throughout my years growing up.”

Marshall operated six gas stations dispersed throughout the community.

“As Moses Lake expanded, he expanded with it,” McKean said. “He always felt Moses Lake was prospering and booming.”

Marshall was part of a three-man committee that re-named the town from Neppel to Moses Lake.

“He had a great impact on this town and was always very civic-minded,” Cole said. “He also loved and took good care of his family.”

Marshall drove his parents around because they didn’t own a car and watched out for his siblings.

“He was always a man of vision and provided stability for his family and his friends,” McKean said. “He was the one everyone turned to during a time of need.”

Marshall married a red-headed school teacher named Lois Dunbar in 1940. The couple raised three daughters in Moses Lake.

“They loved to golf and play cards together,” McKean said. “My father never got a boy, but I was a tomboy. We would play golf, go pheasant hunting, fishing and beaver trapping together.”

McKean remembers her father bringing home Washington state senators to the house to visit. Marshall was a “diehard Democrat” and was always involved in politics.

“He taught me to always be caring and to help others,” McKean said. “He loved farmers and did whatever it took to help them. He extended credit to farmers going through hard times and would deliver oil to them, which really made a difference in whether they could continue farming or not.”

Marshall also enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing golf.

“He believed in honesty and integrity in people, but he also believed in God,” McKean said. “He always attended the First Presbyterian Church (of Moses Lake).”

Marshall took care of his family until his death.

“He had a great sense of humor and a personality that was larger than life,” McKean said. “I always looked up to my father and he always made sure his daughters were taken care of, even after we were married.”

Granddaughter Lauren Tandy remembers going to Marshall’s house on the lake for barbecues and sitting on the patio with him.

“He was a strong man with a soft and caring undertone,” Tandy said. “He was interested in everyone’s lives and liked us to come into his den and talk to him about what we were doing when we visited. He wanted to know if everyone was OK and he liked to look out for us.”

Moses Lake City Council member Dick Deane remembers teaching Marshall’s daughters in art class at Frontier Middle School.

“I’ve known the Burress family from way back when I was a little kid,” Deane said. “They have made quite a contribution to Moses Lake and have a heritage in the community that won’t be taken away.”

Deane remembers Marshall as the “go to guy.”

“He was a true blue Moses Lake guy and loved what went on here,” Deane said. “The anchor of Moses Lake has to do with the stability from the families that came here and were homesteaders. The Burress family is and will always be recognized as anchors here.”

Marshall’s family is inviting any community member interested to attend a memorial service at 2 p.m. on March 27 at the First Presbyterian Church of Moses Lake, located at 1142 W. Ivy.