Erika Marshall was more than just a teacher to the countless special-needs students she worked with in her Chicago classroom.
When in the 1970s she helped develop a groundbreaking Chicago Public Schools outreach program for families of disabled preschool children, Mrs. Marshall would faithfully visit with the children’s families at their homes.
She helped prepare the parents and the children, many who were deaf and blind and under 3 years old, to navigate the world with special needs.
“My mom was more of a social worker than a teacher,” said Mrs. Marshall’s daughter, Lisa Derezinski. “She really believed in getting the whole child, as well as the whole family, engaged in the education of the child.”
Mrs. Marshall, 74, died of leukemia on Sunday, Feb. 13, at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, her family said.
Mrs. Marshall, a CPS veteran of more than four decades, was also active in the Chicago Teachers Union. She worked as a union representative and legislative coordinator for the union, her family said.
Her enthusiasm for working with the union came from a deep-seated belief in fair labor practices, instilled in her by her father, a German union activist, Derezinski said.
Her passion for the union even put her on different sides of the picket line from her husband, Marvin. In 1976, the teachers, including Mrs. Marshall, picketed in front of William Brown Elementary School, where her husband was principal.
“They would wave at each other,” Mrs. Marshall’s daughter said. “He would bring coffee out to the picketers.”
Mrs. Marshall’s passion for education and the union went on to influence a new teacher, Marilyn Stewart, who worked alongside Mrs. Marshall at Skinner Elementary School. Stewart would eventually become president of the union.
“She was a quiet mentor, really pushing you along,” Stewart said.
The former Erika Kunzl was born to German parents in Moscow, where her family had fled after the Nazis came to power in Germany.
The longtime Oak Park resident was raised on Chicago’s North Side and in Hillside. She attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and received a master’s degree in education from Elmhurst College.
Mrs. Marshall retired from Skinner in 2001, after 25 years at the school, her family said.
In addition to her daughter and husband of 54 years, Mrs. Marshall is survived by a son, Eric, and four grandchildren.
A memorial is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Marshalls’ condominium building, 721 Ontario St., Oak Park.
