James Derek Marshall, 56, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Friday, April 23, 2021. He is survived by his wife Linda Marie (Murray) Marshall; his mother Jacqueline Roberta (Hilleary)(Marshall) Ekberg; his siblings Hilleary Asenthe Ekberg, Michael David Marshall and Georgiana "Gigi" Leola (Ekberg) Bluhm; his best friend John Michael Cicairos; his nieces Amanda (Bluhm) Rommel, Alexis Bluhm, Ashley Bluhm and his nephew Austin Bluhm and Sean Murray; and his many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that are spread across the country. He is preceded in death by his grandparents James Donald and Alma Marshall; Jack and Donna Mae Hilleary; and Earl and Gladys Ekberg; his father James David Marshall; his sister Robin Donnell Marshall; and his nephew Brodie James Scott Ekberg.

Oldest of all his siblings and cousins, James was born in April 1965 in Mountain View CA. That same year his cousins Yvette and Shawn were born and his sister Gigi, who he would meet later in his life. The following years came the rest of the family and cousins, who he would become a father figure to all and the matriarch of his entire family that everyone would lean on in times of joy, happiness, sorrow and pain. Known as Derek to his family and James to the rest of the world, he was always the strength of his family and a natural leader.

In his early years, Derek would know sorrow, at the age of 6, when he lost his father James David to MS. He was the spitting image of his dad and just as outgoing and fun. He learned how to play the banjo, just like his dad, as well as muscle cars, motorcycles and animals. When he was 7 years old, he met his stepfather George Earl and his sister Gigi. By his 9 ^th birthday he was the "Greg Brady" of this Brady Bunch family. He made sure that all the siblings and cousins were looked after, while at the same time he made sure that they all had fun.

By 1977, the family moved to Gilroy CA where Derek learned how to raise farm animals, became proficient at riding dirt bikes, horses as well as learning how to live off the land. He played football and baseball becoming a noted southpaw first baseman and pitcher. His love for sports became a passion as he grew older. Derek made lifelong friends during his time living in Gilroy, making sure to keep most of them out of trouble: he was always there standing beside them defending them and supporting them. He would help them with building their muscle cars, getting girls, and with anything else they needed a wingman for. Once you became his friend and earned his loyalty, you would never lose it.

In 1984, Derek joined the U.S. Navy with his best friend Mike Cicairos and his high school friend Mike Eckheart. After graduating boot camp, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Juneau (Cruiser Class), stationed out of San Diego CA. Derek used to write the family or call from his ship often and tell us all about his travels, what he was doing and the shipmates he had meet and the boundless fun he was having. He bought his first motorcycle while stationed in San Diego, a Honda Shadow, and would travel home to Gilroy on a regular basis. He loved to travel on his motorcycle, so much that for the rest of his life he would always own one, which led him to become a Harley-Davidson owner and join one of the local Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Clubs.

After the Navy, Derek came home to Gilroy, where he enrolled in many computer courses which he completed by acing all his classes at the local community school. He then enrolled in a trade school called Computer Learning Center (CLC) in San Jose. Derek excelled in every course and when he graduated, he was hired at the school as an instructor. Through his many years at CLC he meet and become friends with a lot of people who introduced him to new activities and hobbies, like San Jose Sharks Hockey. He became a Sharks fanatic and one of the original season ticket holders. It was at CLC that Derek meet a girl named Linda.

After several years of dating, Derek and Linda lovingly married during an intense blizzard in Tahoe, NV. Ture to his unwavering loyalty, with Derek was his best friend Mike, the only one in attendance. Derek and Linda would continue to live in Silicone Valley for a few years until they decided to buy their forever home in Tracy, CA.

Derek went on to continue to work in the IT field with companies such as the likes of Johnson & Johnson and Dell. In 2009 Derek was hired at NASA Ames with Perot Systems as an Area Manager and was responsible for the Ames Data Center work along with the Focused IT Support Teams throughout the Ames Center. Over the years his company change hands from Perot Systems to Dell to NTT. During his time Derek added the IT Security team, Radio/Video team and the Agency Cloud team to his duties. He was promoted at NTT to be the Delivery Director and the Deputy Site Director. In January 2021, Derek moved over to the Prime Contractor for the ACITS4 contract with ASRC Federal Data Solutions (AFDS) and continued as the Technical Area Manager over the Data Center, Cloud Computing, Radio and Video, and IT Security teams as well as getting a promotion to the position of Deputy Program Manager.

Derek was well known and loved by all his teams, friends and NASA customers, not to mention his bosses as well. They did not see him as a manager, everyone he worked with always saw him as a teammate, friend, reliable colleague, mentor, leader and most of all a brother. He was Uncle James to his friends' children as well as a father figure to them. Loyal and kind to a fault, but always the one person you could count on when you called him. He was the one man that could change your life, with just his strong friendly handshake.

His passing is unreal and has left a black hole in my heart. I know he is with his father, my father, our sister and my son in his spirit world. The family, his friends and I will never forget him and will not go a day without missing him………. Until I see you again my brother. Love Bebo.

Private Funeral Services will be held