SHERBURNE –  Twelve-year-old Marshall Sepello lit up the room with a smile that could outshine his flaming red hair. Born with a congenital heart defect, Marshall defied the odds time and time again, but on Sunday he passed away at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse.

Marshall’s mother Rebecca Sepello described her son’s personality. “He was joy embodied in a person. He smiled even in the darkest of times. He was thoughtful and precociously brilliant since birth. Wise old man the second he came out screaming. Artistic and technology inclined.What he lacked in size he gained in strength and smarts. He was fierce and fought like hell just to live.”

Marshall gained celebrity status over the last few years. In 2019, when Marshall was just five, a fire started in the family’s garage. Sherburne first responders fought the fire, and Marshall was amazed. The first responders had a chance to talk to the little boy, who told them he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. The fire department decided to grant that wish. They returned later to make Marshall an honorary junior firefighter.

“With tears in our eyes, the Sherburne Fire Department will take the time to honor and remember our brother in service,” the department posted on Facebook. “The station flag has been lowered, and our team will gather in dress uniform to pay our respects to Marshall and his family.”

In 2023, Marshall had another dream come true. The Make-A-Wish foundation partnered with American High to bring Marshall’s love of super heroes to life. At the age of 9, Marshall wrote, directed and starred in his own film Marshall Man. The short movie was based on a comic book, created by Marshall about a boy who gets zapped in science class and turns into a super hero. Marshall got to walk the orange carpet at the movie premiere in April of 2023. But just because his movie debut was over, it didn’t mean Marshall stopped. He started to work on writing a sequel. “After the movie he focused more on film, games, and sketches,” Rebecca said.

Sherburne-Earlville Superintendent Dr. Antoinette Halliday remembered her first interaction with Marshall when she was working as the elementary principal. During an early meeting with the family to discuss how they could support Marshall’s health needs, Marshall quickly turned the conversation to a topic more interesting to him, horror movies. Halliday said she and then Special Programs Director Ginger Rinaldo admitted they were scared of horror movies.  

“Marshall replied, ‘Well, you just need to be brave like me,’” Halliday recounted.

 

“At the time, he had no idea how deeply those words would stay with us or how often I would remember them as we did our best to support him whenever he was able to attend school. There are so many stories like this that reflect who Marshall was. He had a wisdom well beyond his years,” Halliday said.

Marshall’s father Michael Sepello also described his son as a super happy kid. “Some babies cry all the time. Not Marshall. He was always happy. I loved that about him. He was a kind, gentle soul. Wise and honest.”

Both of Marshall’s parents said that unlike most pre-teen boys, Marshall never told a lie. “From an early age, we talked about what it meant to be a good man. That means being respectful and honest and kind. He took those things to heart,” Michael said. “He always had empathy and he was happy to speak to anyone who would be friends with him.” Marshall also has three older brothers. “His three older brothers were a great influence on Marshall’s sense of humor and justice,” Michael added.

“[He] never lied, always loved, and was so well loved. We miss him so,” Rebecca said.

Services for Marshall will be held on Saturday, May 23rd from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Burgess and Tedesco Funeral Home in Sherburne.