About Dr. Michael Alexander Marshall
Dr. Michael Alexander Marshall was born on the island of St. Lucia on December 31, 1976. He lived with his mother and later and younger sister, Kay in the capital city of Castries. His father was a civil engineer, who lived a fast paced, high spirited - and also short - life that took him around the world, and would take Michael around the world as well.
Michael was assigned female at birth and lived fraught existence in childhood, truly not understanding how people around him could not see his gender with the clarity that he did. He approached all life with the same degree of seriousness, determination and certainty with which reviewed his own identity. He was academically gifted and had an incredible memory and eye for detail. He would regularly recount a story of walking across town from his primary school to his mothers place of work on his own, at the age of four, because he needed a pencil for preschool. The story is, I think it snapshot into who he was.
Michael was determined and unstoppable, while always moving forward, despite a great perceived, weight on the shoulders. Michael never hesitated to have aspirations and would stop at nothing to see them through. He would always joke that he was shameless. He had great adventures and took great risks.
Near the end of grade school, he saw an opportunity for a scholarship for medical school and jumped on it. He began at the university of the West Indies in Jamaica, and then enlisted in the British military in order to have the rest of his schooling paid for. This took him to England eith his then partner and lifelong closest friend, Tannya. But, within a short time, he fell in love with Scotland, and moved to Creef, the place that remained his emotional safe haven. His love of Scotland is notable in his art collection. Most of his pieces were created by Scottish artists.
He served in the British army for 11 years, leaving as a psychiatrist. He then went on to work with people experiencing trauma due to relocation and catastrophic events. It was during this time that he met, Karin, with whom he expanded his cycling and running prowess. Active vacations became their chosen past time. They would spend nearly 10 years together before amicably parting ways.
In 2014, he was offered an opportunity to come to Alberta, and expand on the area specialization, which he was then exploring; gender care. He arrived in Red Deer, Alberta and opened a clinic to provide care for gender diverse people. He also met and married Gray.
Within three years, he had been asked to run the gender clinic at the University of Alberta and Edmonton. He settled in Edmonton but soon realized that he felt confined within the parameters that he had to operate at the University. During this time, he had also begun work at an inpatient psychiatric facility in rural Alberta. He continue to do this work while exploring a new idea; to create a wellness centre for LGBTQ people that would encompass all of their health and wellness needs.
During his early days in Edmonton, he met Glynnis. She was newly running a partner, LGBTQ organization, and they became fast friends. She was also in her journey to adopt children to accompany her biological son. Michael has long been wanting children, but the opportunity had never presented itself. In his impulsive and shameless manner, he approached Glynnis about the possibility of continuing the adoption adventure together. In 2020, they were matched with a group of beautiful siblings from his home country of St. Lucia.
During the next 2 1/2 years, they would maneuver the complicated journey of international adoption through the world-changing pandemic. During this time, Michael returned his focus to writing poetry, and getting acquainted with the art scene in Alberta. Glynnis - the daughter of an artist - had a deep love of art. They built their collection together. It was also during this time that Michael began to look at issues of equity related to race and gender. Deeply shaken by the murder of George Floyd, he begin to seek out local activists, and added his voice to the collective cry to expose and rectify the deeply seeded racism and inequity that is still seeped in all of our systems in the west. He joined the Canada speakers bureau and began speaking internationally about systemic inequity.
In September 2022, while still deep in the throes of working to get their adopted children to Canada, Michael died suddenly, of yet to be determined causes, in his home in Edmonton.
Michael leaves behind the six children he and Glynnis co-parented, his maternal grandmother, his mother, 27 siblings around the globe (including Kay, Amy and Kyler in Alberta), a multitude of aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as many friends and colleagues from his many adventures.
With all his accomplishments and global adventures, he was far from fearless. Michael lived with tremendous, persistent, fear, and anxiety. He would struggle with his mental wellness, his entire life. But, despite being weighted by regular periods of sadness, and being overwhelmed, he sought beauty in every form. He was a voracious reader and a lover of poetry and art. Near the end of his life, he would describe himself as a poet who is also a psychiatrist.
These pieces are from His and Glynnis’ collection. They are being sold to help finance the remaining legal and transportation fees for Glynnis to bring their children home as well as to support Arts on the Ave, an organization they both love dearly.
