Grace Marksbury

Marksbury

Grace Ann, 98, died peacefully at her home in Kenwood, Ohio on July 27 from congestive heart failure. For many years she ran the Bethel office of the American Automobile Club and thereafter worked for Sargent Welch Chemicals in Sharonville as a salesperson. She was known for keeping an immaculately clean house and watching college basketball. She was an avid fan of the Cincinnati Bearcats and especially its former coach, Bob Huggins. She never missed March Madness. In high school, she was team captain and a Clermont County all-star forward on the Bethel-Tate High School girls basketball team. She was born on February 23, 1918, in Bethel, Ohio, the daughter of Cecil and Roy Ellsberry. Grace Ellsberry poured herself into high school activities. In addition to basketball, she played clarinet in the marching band, played tennis, and took typing and home economics. She was always proud of her Ellsberry ancestors, who helped settle Bethel and build the Methodist Church there. The Ellsberry's were Democrats since the formation of the party and Methodists since the John Wesley movement in the 18th century. The family came from southwestern England to settle on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1710. Her forebears fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The Ellsberry's claimed descent from George Washington's great aunt through marriage to an old Virginia family, the John Wrights. She was married to Howard Marksbury of Bethel until his death in 1998. They had been married for 59 years. She is survived by James H. Marksbury of Durham, North Carolina; John C. Marksbury of North Truro, Massachusetts and Palm Springs, California; and a grandson John C. Marksbury II of Saint Louis, Missouri as well as six nieces and one nephew and numerous great nieces and nephews.  A funeral service will be held at Vorhis & Ryan Funeral Home, 11365 Springfield Pike in Springdale, OH on Monday, August 1, 2016 at 10:30 AM with visitation at 10:00 AM.  Burial will be at the family plot in Bethel, Ohio