Photos: Rowan deputy’s funeral procession passes through downtown Salisbury

Published 5:05 pm Thursday, October 14, 2021

Firefighters stood at attention and saluted, passersby stopped and took pictures and a crowd of Rowan Sheriff’s Office and courthouse workers stood solemnly Thursday afternoon as the funeral procession for Master Deputy William “Billy” Marsh passed through downtown Salisbury.

Marsh, 40, died Sunday after a battle with COVID-19. At the time of his death, he lived in the Cleveland area with his wife, Nicole, and 2-year-old daughter Kennedy. Marsh graduated from North Rowan High School in 1999, finished his basic law enforcement training two years later and started working in law enforcement at the China Grove Police Department.

He came to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office in 2012 as a reserve deputy. He became a full-time sheriff’s deputy in 2015.

In front of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, a Salisbury Fire Department ladder truck hoisted an American flag over the intersection of Liberty and North Main streets. The funeral procession’s route started at Powles Staton Funeral Home in Rockwell, made a pass by the Sheriff’s Office and turned right at the Square toward Omwake-Dearbon Chapel at Catawba College, where services were held.