Marston Doolittle, 75, of rural North Platte, died on July 5, 2012, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., as the result of a severe head injury he received while hiking with several of his children.
He was born to Hosmer and Mabel Atkinson Doolittle in North Platte on Jan. 10, 1937, and was baptized in the Episcopal Church of Our Savior. He graduated from North Platte High School in 1955. He was drafted into the army in 1958, spending two years in Bad Kissingen, Germany, where he met and married Heidi Lorenz in 1959.
He returned to North Platte and in 1964 was seriously injured in an electrical accident on the farm. He married Mary Proctor on May 3, 1970, and their lives were blessed by 11 children. He was a lifelong farmer and rancher.
Marston enjoyed being surrounded by his family and they went on many picnics and camping trips together. He was a kind and giving grandpa, often giving his grandchildren little keepsakes like arrowheads, rocks and coins. He was very compassionate to the sick or needy, and deeply loved nature and animals.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sons, Micah in 1996 and Mark in 2006.
He is survived by a daughter-in-law, Gayla Doolittle, of Mifflinburg, Pa.; six daughters, Molly (Charles) Nightengale, Minnie (Jerry) Schmidt, Miranda (Marshall) Koehn, Mia (Tyson) Koehn, and Maria Doolittle, all of Madrid, and Martha (Russell) Koehn, of Burns, Kan.; three sons, Martin (Kim) presently serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic, Elkanah (Kendra) and Hosmer (Jana), all of Madrid; 12 grandsons; 13 granddaughters; one sister, Marilyn (Bud) Rand, of Ft.Collins; two nieces and one nephew; Mary Doolittle, the mother of his children, of Madrid; close friends, Pat (Heidi) Kelley, of North Platte, and Heidi Lucas, of Germany.
Services will be at 9:30 a.m. (MDT) on Wednesday, July 11, at the Golden Plains Mennonite Church west of Madrid and burial will be at the North Platte City Cemetery at 3:30 p.m. Bullock-Long Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.