Marvin Belford Obituary

Marvin L. Belford, of Talent, Ore. passed away at Providence Hospital in Medford, Ore. March 18, 2013.

Marvin was born August 15, 1933, in Beatrice, Neb., to Marvin M. and Marie Belford. He lived throughout his school years in Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1955 he received a bachelor's of music education degree from Drake University in Des Moines, teaching for two years at Urbandale High School, Urbandale, Iowa. He received his master's of music education from Drake University in 1957. From 1957-1964 he met the challenge of developing a band program at Fresno City College in Fresno, Calif. While studying for his doctoral degree at the University of Iowa, he was Associate Director of Bands at the University of Iowa while teaching, and Director of Bands at Millican University in Decatur, Ill. He received his PhD in 1967 and took his next teaching position at Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University), where he taught trumpet and teacher education until his retirement in 1991. He was department chair in the years the music building was designed and built in the 1970s.

In 1956 he married Phebe Wolfson. They had two children, Elizabeth (Liz) Mary and Charles Marvin. Following their divorce he married Lodi Birge in 1981.

Marvin's professional affiliations were Music Educators (50-year member), Oregon Music Educators, International Trumpet Guild, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He performed many years with the Ashland City Band, and occasionally with the Rogue Valley Symphony, Britt Orchestra, Rogue Valley Wind Ensemble, and the Southern Oregon Concert Band.

Locally he was a member of the City of Ashland Band Board. A member and past president of the Ashland Lions Club, he was selected as the 2005 Lion of the Year.

Marvin is survived by his wife, Lodi; daughter, Liz Dunn (and husband, David), of Ashland; daughter-in-law, Anita Logan-Belford, of Lowden, Wash.; step-children, Stephen Birge (and wife, Tiffany English), of Bothell, Wash. and Rebecca Heigel (and husband, Gary), of Grants Pass; sister-in-law, Majel Birge, of Sumner, Wash.; his first wife, Phebe Kimball, of Ashland; and numerous grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son, Charles, March 21, 2010.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 23, 2013, at the SOU Music Recital Hall on Mountain Avenue. Memorial contributions can be made to the Ashland Lions Club, PO Box 3340, Ashland, OR 97520 or the SOU Foundation (indicating the Retirees Association Scholarship Fund), 1250 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, OR 97520.

Arrangements under the direction of LitwillerSimonsen Funeral Home and Crematory, Ashland, Ore.

Reprinted from the Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 2013