The URL/link to Marshall's passing seems to no longer be active, but I saved his obituary. It's included here.+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + His mission: Find homes for everyone By Ian B. Murphy/Staff writerGateHouse News ServiceThu May 24, 2007, 06:57 AM EDT Lexington Marshall Derby may be best known as the Lexington Housing Assistance Board (LexHAB) chairman, a position he held for 15 years. He died Wednesday, May 16 at his home at age 64. Marshall Derby always gave his friends laughter, retaining his sharp wit to the end of his battlewith pancreatic cancer.  He was also a giver to total strangers, helping families in need have a chance to live in Lexington. He gave his family love, showering his wife, two children and four grandchildren with caring, understanding and knowledge. But Derby’s own words about giving, read by his friend and business partner Morton Hodin during his eulogy to Derby at Temple Isaiah Friday, describe him best. “What you get is a living, what you give is a life. ” He died Wednesday, May 16 at his home at age 64.  Derby may be best known as the Lexington Housing Assistance Board (LexHAB) chairman, a position he held for 15 years. Combining his professional knowledge of real estate development with his genuine desire to help others, he took the reins of the town’s municipal affordable housing organization and quadrupled its stock.  “During his period of leadership and inspiration LexHAB increased its housing stock from 12 to 15 units to the 50 we now have,” said Bill Hays, who has served on the LexHAB board since its inception in 1983. “We’ll be hard put to find any three people who will together be able to give the town and our agency the expertise, the inspiration, the commitment and the leadership that Marshall brought to bear.” Derby coordinated a collaborative effort between the town, the Lexington Rotary Club, and Minuteman Regional’s carpentry program to acquire available lots in Lexington and build houses on them, to become available for low to moderate income families seeking to live in Lexington. “Not only was he very, very smart, and had all sorts of business acumen, but he was also a real doer,” said Selectman Norman Cohen. “If he felt there was a chance we could get a piece of land and build a house on it, he persisted. He wouldn’t give up.” Laura Derby, his wife, observed Derby over the years as he happily gave his time to helping young families find homes in Lexington. “It was so wonderful to watch. It mattered so much to him to help people live in our town who couldn’t normally.” Derby was born on Dec. 19, 1942 in Arlington, where he also attended school through his graduation in 1960. He moved on to Tufts University, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1964 and master’s degree in 1965, the latter in chemical engineering. He began his career in real estate development in 1969 with Benjamin L. Cohen and Sons and in 1986 he began at H & D Development, working alongside Hodin until 1995. His life was filled with other duties, spent mainly for the benefit of others. Derby was a Lexington Town Meeting member for 20 years. He worked with the Junior Chamber of Commerce in the 70s at what is now the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Concord helping to teach young men who were incarcerated. He served as the president and trustee of the congregation at Temple Isaiah, and he worked with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to provide free small-business administration consultation. “He was most generous with his time, but he never bragged about it, so most people had any idea how much he was doing,” said Hodin. Laura Derby said that despite his many duties away from home, her husband always put his family first. His daughter Rebecca pointed out that just like in his professional life and town life, he engaged his role as a father with compassion and understanding. “He was very caring and giving man,” she said. “He listened well to what they were saying, and usually succeeded in helping them. He loved knowing how things worked. He had a very curious mind, and he loved sharing that.” Derby was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago, and since then he had been flooded by letters and visitors who eagerly accepted the chance to share with him the profound effect he had on them. According to Rebecca and Laura, they number in the hundreds. In a letter sent to Derby from a resident that he helped move into Lexington through LexHAB, she wished him “warm thoughts, hugs, and positive energy,” and included a picture of her baby daughter. “Although I have only met you on one occasion, you often cross my mind” said the resident, whose name was omitted by the Derby’s in consideration for her privacy. “Because of you and many others we are able to live in the community.” The last months have provided an outlet for such sentiments. “There’s nothing lucky about having a disease that you know will kill you soon,” said Laura Derby. “But it gave people a chance to say the things they wanted to him, and he to them, which was a good thing.” After years of bringing smiles to friends, family, and people he had never met, it was Marshall Derby’s turn to smile. The day before he died, according to Laura, his daughters Rebecca and Sara, and his grandchildren Nate, Sadie, Mark, and Eliza, sat by his bedside and spoke to him. “At that point, he was able to do very little,” she said. “But he heard their voices, and he got that huge smile on his face.” + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Mark

Dear AHS Classmates, no simple note can capture the wonderful caring man Marshall was. He had a quick wit, and a bright, realistic, do-the-right-thing style. He made things happen.  I had the great privilege of being his friend from grade school through AHS, Tufts, and beyond. Our dads’ cars would be parked in the local Temple’s lot, and if we could, we’d choose a car, hop in, and take turns tuning the radio to see who could get the furthest ball game. We laughed and shared. And, every time we saw each other over the decades, that never changed.  Marshall was a man apart. In talking, during his illness, he quipped, “Ah, if I had known then what I know now, I would have ordered more really expensive wine! :-)  When we were sad, he made us laugh. He set a standard as to what life is all about. Good friends are few and far between, and I, like many of you, feel blest in having known him.            Mark Kahan

Marshall Derby was one of the sweetest, nicest guys ever.  He was bright and funny and one of my favorite boy-pals in high school.  I'll always remember him with fondness and sorrow that he is gone.Joyce Hepburn Radochia

We Miss You, Marshall