Lloyd Marshall Burke

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Lloyd J. Marshall was born in Boston in 1920. His parents' names are Albert J. and Lenore Burke Marshall. His fraternal grandparents are John and Mary Doharty Marshall and on his mother's side, David "Kenny" and Valina Coolen Burke. His grandparents are from Shad Bay and East Dover.

His favourite pastimes growing up were fishing, sailing, guitar, reading and skiing or skating in the winter. He dreamed of a life on the sea. He remembers having a pet pig, a pet ox and a Scottie that howled at the moon. He remains close friends with Keith Coolen of East Dover, who he has been friends with since the age of seven. His favourite "good times" were the summers spent in East Dover.

His mother died when he was just three years old. She had been the oldest of nine children and lived with her grandparents Louisa McGrath Coolen and William Coolen and their children. When the only son in the family and the father died, the women left for Boston taking his mother Lenore with them. There she married Lloyd's father, a fisherman who helped with "making fish" (processing). Lloyd says, "Mackerel and herring were mostly salted as well as cod and other offshore ground fish."

He recalls the dirt roads were impassable at times especially in the spring when the frost came out and were not improved until after World War II. He recalls it was difficult travelling from East Dover at night especially to another cove without a power boat. Walking a path at night was almost impossible.

Called into active service with the 5th Fleet Division (Destroyer) UN Naval Reserve in time of World War II, Lloyd didn't see East Dover again for six years. He married Alice Laura Wesson who he met while his father was a patient in the Boston City Hospital. They married at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston, after which when he took a short leave during the war. His wife continued to live in Boston with her parents. They had five children, the first one born in 1944.

The major changes he has seen in the community are transportation, communication and the selling of property at an inflated price to wealthy Europeans and that, he says, is forcing taxes up for fishing families. "It is changing the shoreside communities;" he says, "Until about 1940, families on the seashore were quite self-sustaining. People kept cows and cows kept the grass cut and bushes in control. Most houses sat on grassy hills. Now, bushes and woods are replacing the open grass."

Landmarks he has seen disappear with the passing years are fish stores and wharfs that dotted the coves and bays everywhere. He remains keenly interested in local history.