Henry L. Marsh III (1933 - 2025)

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Born in the midst of the Great Depression, Henry L. Marsh III came of age in a place and a time I never knew. Richmond, Virginia in the 1930s checked all of the racial boxes of despair one could imagine. Henry was highly intelligent and driven, a circumstance untenable for the southern power structure. A bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University in 1956 was followed by a Howard law degree in 1959. As a sign that the universe winks at us (thank you for that image, Monica Harris), Henry’s law school roommate was L. Douglas Wilder, the first popularly elected black Governor in U.S. history. What were the odds?

I remember the day Henry was sworn in as the first black Mayor of Richmond. As I sat in AP English class at Thomas Dale High, I felt a layer of the possible had been lifted. Henry embodied the coming of a better time even though I lived in the adjacent suburb, the only black kid in my class. Destiny and fate drew me to the Marsh family in the coming years. I would work during the summers at Henry’s law firm, Hill, Tucker and Marsh in Jackson Ward. The firm was a red brick office building at 509 North Third Street. Numerous black lawyers modeled for me what it meant to a lawyer. One day, I met a woman at the firm who became part of my life story.

I have written about High IQ black people. Everyone at Henry, Tucker and Marsh was gifted. I still remember the lunch at Thalheimer’s Department Store off of Broad Street in Richmond. I was full of myself and meeting Henry’s family for the first time. I was asked some deep philosophical question straight out of the gate. As I began to answer the question, I observed that people were downshifting. They were slowing their processing speed to accommodate me! The moment was a good encounter for me as it had been too easy to assume I was the cat’s meow. Black lawyers and doctors and dentists and undertakers were a hotbed of the highest intelligence in downtown Richmond. We are not exposed to these families because the media prefers stories of downtrodden people.

We extend our prayers and sympathies to the Marsh family this morning. Henry has now joined his beloved wife Diane and brother Harold. A good man is gone today. A good man has passed away.

The Rise and Fall of Hill Tucker and Marsh