Great-Uncle Was George W. Marston : 2 Members of Leading S.D. Family Die

Two descendants of San Diego’s “First Citizen,” pioneer merchant and civic leader George W. Marston, died this weekend after suffering long illnesses.

Marcella Ostrander, 64, of La Jolla died Sunday of emphysema at Scripps Memorial Hospital. Her brother, Gilman Marston Ostrander, 62, of Ontario, Canada, died Saturday at Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, after a two-year battle with leukemia.

The Ostranders’ maternal grandmother was Marston’s sister. Marston, who died in 1946, was instrumental in the early development of Balboa Park and donated land to the city for Presidio Park in Old Town. He was the city’s first park commissioner and gave large donations to several local colleges. The Marston family has long been recognized for its civic and philanthropic contributions to San Diego.

Marcella, born July 1, 1921, in San Francisco, was a musician and artist. She was a lifelong member of the women’s Zlac Rowing Club in San Diego and was a volunteer during 1941-42 for the Civil Defense air warning system in Honolulu. She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.

Gilman, born Aug. 2, 1923, in San Francisco, moved to San Diego with his mother and two sisters at age 2. He was a historian and professor at Waterloo University in Ontario. He also had been a faculty member at Ohio State University in Columbus; at the University of Missouri in Columbia, and at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

He served in the infantry during World War II. He was graduated from Columbia University in New York City and received his doctorate in history from UC Berkeley in 1954. He lectured on American history and American-Japanese relations at schools in Tokyo during 1967-68. In addition, he wrote several books and articles for professional journals.

The Ostranders are survived by their mother, Katherine Burnham Ostrander of La Jolla, and their sister, Theda O. Henle of Arlington, Va. Marcella also is survived by daughters Katherine S. Robinson of Casper, Wyo., and Martha S. Krones of Peru, and by four grandchildren. Gilman is survived by sons David M. Ostrander, a student at UC Berkeley, and Robert L. Ostrander of Newport, R.I., and daughter Sara E. Ostrander of Flint, Mich.

Services for Marcella are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the San Diego chapter of the American Lung Assn. Gilman’s body will be cremated and his remains interred at Fort Rosecrans.