Marshall H. Reckard

•  US Naval Reserve
• Served 8 years
• Aleutian Islands
• Radio Tech

Marshall was born and raised in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI. After graduating from Bay View High School, Marshall joined the Naval Reserves where he served for 8 years. Much of his time was spent in Milwaukee, but it included a stint in the Aleutian Islands doing radio tech work. During this time he also attended Milwaukee School of Engineering, eventually earning his associates degree.
As a teenager he became heavily involved in sailing via the South Shore Yacht Club. Spending much of his youth and adult life with his friends there. His passion for sailing included participating in 24 Queens Cup races and many other weekly races. He spent many years as a board member and retired from that activity after serving 2 years as Commodore.
Upon telling his friends at the SSYC that he was just going to become a sailing bum, they forced him to take a job with Wisconsin Bell in the mailroom. This had a profound impact on his life as this is where he met Carol, his wife who was working as a phone operator. Marshall worked his way through many jobs at the phone company from working the lines, to becoming a supervisor, manager, etc. He eventually retired from AT&T as the VP of Customer Services in the early 90’s.
After retiring, he and Carol decided to look for a summer home, settling in Presque Isle, an area they were familiar with from vacations at a friend’s place in Manitowish Waters. Thus began Marshall’s second chapter. The summer home quickly became a year-round home, when Carol passed away shortly after moving there. Marshall then became involved in volunteer work with the Presque Isle Fire Department and the community.
He started as a volunteer fireman, worked as a first responder and then earned his EMT license at age 72. He served as a volunteer EMT until a few years ago, not only for Presque Isle, but Boulder Junction, Manitowish Waters and Winchester. The volunteer work was not keeping him busy enough so he also got involved in town politics serving as a Board member and Town Chair. There were many projects he was involved in during his stint with the Board, from working with the maintenance crew, firehall and improving the town roads. His focus was always trying to do what was best for the community.
Born February 19, 1937 and passed away August 20, 2025.