Mom enjoys special day

Lindsay Sandham

While most mothers are lucky to spend the day with their children on

Mother’s Day, Balboa resident Chris Marshall has five to choose from.

Marshall raised five boys on the peninsula. Being extremely

involved in all of their school and extracurricular activities landed

her a spot in the Costa Mesa Globe-Herald Mother’s Day edition in

1961.

“I really don’t know how it got in there,” said the 82-year-old of

the newspaper photo of her and her five sons.

After emigrating to the United States from Belgium, she said

becoming involved in volunteer work not only helped her with her

English, but allowed her to meet all kinds of people around town.

Her husband, Frank Marshall, was away in the military for four

years, so she said when she first moved from Belgium she was alone

with the kids and her English was not that good.

“That’s why I started working in PTA,” she said. “I got pretty

involved in volunteer work.”

Marshall volunteered for the PTA, the Orange County Council of the

Boy Scouts of America, March of Dimes, a local hospital -- where she

still volunteers -- and more.

“I enjoy it,” Marshall said. “I meet a lot of people.”

All five of her boys are grown up and married, and she said she

still sees most of them -- and her 12 grandchildren -- regularly.

One of her sons lives back East and one in Laguna Niguel, but the

other three are still in the area, she said.

“I went for breakfast with one of my sons,” Marshall said of her

Mother’s Day celebration. “And I’m going to dinner with another one.”