"You Got A Gift"

In Memory of Daniel P. Marsh

“You … You … You got a gift my friend. You got a gift.” These words spoken by Robert De Niro in the 1999 hit movie Analyze This will forever echo in my mind through the voice of my dear late friend Dan Marsh.

I first met Dan at a Starbucks by our home in 2017. I was having coffee with my friend Jim, who also happened to be a colleague of mine at the time, and we were discussing takeaways from a bible study we had recently started together. We were sitting at the long community table that has seating for about 10 people, yet we were the only three people sitting there. Dan was at the far opposite end of the table with papers strewn all around him - it would turn out that Dan was a very busy attorney and those papers were his case notes. As my friend Jim and I were talking, Dan looked over, and in his bold intimidating voice abruptly interrupted and said, “Are you guys talking about Jesus?” I responded, “Actually, yes we are.” 

Dan said, “Man, I love Jesus, what are you guys talking about?” And so Dan joined the conversation. 

There we sat, Jim and I with our new friend Dan for about an hour. As we wrapped up the conversation, I asked Dan, “Have you ever heard of the C12 Group?” (The C12 Group is a National Christian peer advisory group for CEOs and business owners.) He responded that he had, as our conversation went something like this:

He said, “C12, C12 … You mean Roger Norberg?” 

I said, “Yep, that’s the one. Have you considered checking it out?”

He said, “I met Roger 10 years ago, but I didn’t think it was for me when we talked back then. Do you think that C12 stuff is worth it?”

I said, “Dan, I met Roger two years ago and I didn’t think it was for me either, until I recently visited a group. I wish I could go back and put my pride and ego in check and had joined sooner. I’ve met some incredible CEOs and business leaders in the last few months that are truly “building great businesses for a greater purpose” - The tagline of C12.

He said, “Maybe I’ll give Roger a call and check it out.”

The next month, I stepped into our monthly C12 gathering and there sitting at the table was a new familiar face, Dan Marsh. 

Dan became more than a member, he became an Ambassador for the C12 Group, and every person in it. That was the type of person he was. If he believed in something or someone, he was all in. He became the biggest advocate for those he believed in. 

Dan and I became great friends. Over the next two years, Dan, Roger and I would meet for breakfast almost every Friday morning to discuss opportunities to introduce more purpose-driven leaders in the Detroit market to each other, and to extend an invitation to those who were so inclined to join us around the C12 table. Dan had a gift for connecting people. He had an uncanny ability to maintain a library of information in his mind, and pull from it at any moment to give people the resources they needed faster than they could explain their problem to him. It was as if he was an intellectual doctor, walking about society, listening to the symptoms of those all around him, friends and strangers alike, and jumping into any conversation with an immediate prescription. Like a doctor would say “Here, take two of these and call me in the morning,” I can hear him now saying “Here, read this book, or call this person, and let me know how I can help.” 

Dan was one of the most others-focused, purpose-driven, individuals I have ever met, and he was one of my biggest encouragers. At almost every breakfast we had together, he would hold onto something that I had said in that conversation, and say to me “ You … You have a gift. People need to hear what you are saying.” He encouraged me to start speaking on a larger scale, he prompted me to launch PurposePoint, and he spurred me on to write my first book. I am forever grateful that God placed him in my life, he constantly challenged me, which helped me take steps in my life that brought me closer to the person I was created to be. 

Dan challenged everyone around him, he may have had no filter, but he had great conviction. One of my greatest memories of Dan was when we were looking at available space to expand our office in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to include a co-working space for other purpose-driven entities. Dan had planned to move his legal office into our new co-working space, and serve as an in-house attorney for our members. The new space we were looking at was directly across the street from the county courthouse, which Dan frequented several times a week as an attorney. As we were looking at the different offices, and the views outside of those offices, Dan immediately went to the office that overlooked the courthouse, and said “This is it. This is my office, I have to have this office. Now I can look straight at that court house and keep those judges in my sight each day, and pray for them and the cases they are presiding over.” Everything he did, and every decision he made, was purpose centered. 

Dan would never have the opportunity to pray in that office. At our Friday breakfast the week after we had just stood in that office, he received a phone call. It was from his doctor. His tone changed in a manner I had not heard before. He closed his books, looked up calmly at Roger and I, and said, “Boys, I have to go. My doctor just called and told me to come in right away because they need to look at something.” I had no idea he was sick, and he would have you believe that he didn’t know he was sick either, but I believe he knew. He was not one to share his burdens, because he was always so focused on relieving the burdens of others. He could see the look of concern and panic on my face. He stood up, put his arm on my shoulder, gave me his Dan Marsh smile, and said, “I’m gonna be ok.” Even in his moment of greatest need, he was concerned about my burden for him. That would be the last time that I saw my friend Dan. 

In the following days, Dan was admitted to the hospital and He and I would text back and forth almost every day, as I attempted to encourage him, as he so often encouraged me. Encouragement was a spiritual gift that I believe we both shared, and was the foundation for our friendship, second only to our shared faith. Even from his hospital bed, Dan was still digesting information and sending it out to those who needed it. We were in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, and the hospital he was in was overwhelmed with patients. Each day my inbox filled up with messages and articles with resources for business leaders on what they needed to know to lead their teams in the midst of COVID19, many of them were emails from Dan. 

Dan operated from the center of his purpose right to the very end. He used his gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and encouragement to serve others even during his darkest moment. He ran the good race and he fought the good fight.

Micah 6:8 reads, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

Dan’s life exemplified these words. 

My intent is not to disengage you in this moment if you do not share the same beliefs that Dan and I shared, but I can not refrain from sharing scripture here as I am compelled by the last words I received from my friend Dan.

His last words to me were, “He has not moved away. I do need to get into the 'Word' more. I have found much comfort there.” Within 36 hours of these words, he had gone to be with the Author of the "Word."

Romans 12:6 says, “ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching then teach; if it is to encourage, than give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

You … You … You Got a Gift. 

Your life is a gift. You have been created for a purpose, that somewhere, someone needs you to operate in the fullness of. I pray that you would realize the incredible potential that is within you to make a difference in this world, and that like Dan, your purpose will impact the lives of all those it touches, and perhaps even end up on the pages of an article or book written by someone whose life your gift impacted, long after you are gone. 

Dan Marsh was a Purpose-driven Attorney - serving as a leader for Christian Legal Aid in Michigan, a graduate of De La Salle Collegiate, the University of Detroit, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and an Ambassador Member of The C12 Group. He was the very definition of community leader and connector. He was the husband of Liz Marsh, and father to their seven children. He had a deep love for them, a passion for Christ, and a heart for people, all people.

Donations to support the Marsh family are needed and appreciated and can be made at daniel-p-marsh

He leaves behind his wife Liz and their 7 children: Andrew (22) Grace (15) Joshua (13) Abigail (12) Faith(7) Matthew (5) Isaac (2).