Charles Wellington Marvin

Capt. Charles W. Marvin of San Diego, California, passed into eternal life on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 88 years old. Known to many as “Chuck” or Chaplain Marvin, he proudly and faithfully served God and country as an active duty U.S. Navy chaplain for 27 years.

A committal service with military honors will be held in San Diego on June 7, 2024, at Miramar National Cemetery, 5795 Nobel Dr., at 11:15am. A memorial service will take place on June 8, 2024, at City View Church, 8404 Phyllis Place, at 10:30am (reception will follow). The family requests that attendees contact them at cwmarvinmemorial@gmail.com for further information, especially for those planning to attend the Miramar committal service.

Born on March 9, 1936, in St. Clair, Michigan, to parents Daisy Amanda (Isaacs) Marvin and Wayne Frank Marvin, Chuck was the seventh of 12 Marvin children (seven boys and five girls) and enjoyed recounting many lively adventures and mishaps from his childhood near the Pine River in St. Clair. Perhaps an early sign of his Navy future, Chuck once ventured onto a boat alone at three years old until his mother hauled him home. He retained a “nothing ventured, nothing gained” spirit throughout his life.

After graduating from St. Clair High School in 1953, Chuck enlisted in the Naval Submarine Reserves in Cleveland, Ohio. Between Chuck, his father, and six brothers, an immediate Marvin family member served in the Navy during every major conflict from World War I through the Gulf War. While a young reservist, Chuck attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, earning a B.A. in 1958, with a view toward ministry and the pastorate.

Chuck spent the first part of his career as a civilian. He served as assistant pastor in two churches in Cleveland and was ordained by the Ohio District Council of the Assemblies of God in 1962. While in Cleveland, he met Beverly Sliwinski at a district youth roller-skating event. Beverly was unimpressed at the time, but, not one to be easily deterred, Chuck won her over and they married on her twenty-first birthday in 1962. They remained devoted husband and wife for nearly 62 years until Chuck’s death, and enjoyed decades of fruitful family life, ministry, and military moves and adventures, both foreign and domestic.

While serving as pastor of First Assembly of God in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, from 1964-1970, Chuck completed a divinity degree at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. He discerned a call to military chaplaincy and was commissioned as a Navy lieutenant and entered active duty in 1971 at age 35. In 1979, Chuck was selected for Naval Postgraduate School and attended Princeton Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Theology degree in 1980.

Both Chuck and Beverly thoroughly enjoyed military life and cherished the friends they made and kept throughout their many moves and various duty stations. Their two years in Holy Loch, Scotland, aboard the U.S.S. Holland in the late 1970s sparked a lifelong family love for Great Britain, where Chuck had a ball golfing on the picturesque Scottish courses and Beverly and their three daughters enjoyed the port town of Dunoon and trips to Glasgow. Other duty stations saw Chuck serving as senior chaplain aboard the carrier U.S.S. Independence (where son Matt enjoyed dependent cruises and sonic booms!), preparing the ministry that would be provided to sailors and Marines during the Gulf War, conducting funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, ministering at Navy chapels on Guam and in Washington, D.C., and providing comprehensive pastoral ministry to recruits at a trio of different boot camps.

Chaplain Marvin held a special place in his heart for the Marines he served, earning their respect and camaraderie by opting to participate in their rigorous physical training even though it was not required of him as a chaplain. His many honors included the Legion of Merit awarded by the Marine Corps for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performing outstanding service.

Capt. Marvin retired from the Navy on March 31, 1998, as assistant chief of staff for religious ministries at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. A decorated naval officer, Chuck served honorably and wholeheartedly as an armed forces chaplain who was known, loved, and regarded for being an ebullient and personable minister of the gospel. He blended personal and professional integrity with reverence for God, down-to-earth humor, and genuine love for the men and women he served. He excelled at offering spiritual and practical counsel and mentoring and was quick to listen to and encourage his fellow servicemen and women. Following his Navy retirement, Chuck served for nearly eight years as director of chaplaincy ministries and endorsing agent for the Assemblies of God, headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

Chuck was a true people person. His glass was always at least half full, if not spilling over and splashing everyone around him with his contagious love for life. He laughed easily and heartily, even at his own jokes. He was as comfortable rolling up his sleeves and getting greasy doing manual labor and repairs as he was conducting weddings, funerals, and baptisms or preaching and administering communion on a Sunday morning. He lifted others up both in word and deed, whether neighbors, strangers, parishioners, fellow church members, colleagues, friends or family.

Chuck is lovingly honored and survived by his wife, Beverly Marvin; daughters Julie Randolph, Beverly “Mandy” Marvin, and Sara Daniel, and son, Matthew “Matt” Marvin; sons-in-law (and worthy opponents in golf, tennis, and Scrabble) Richard “Rick” Randolph and Charles “Clay” Daniel; grandchildren Emily Randolph, Ian Randolph (Victoria), Brandon Randolph, Knox Daniel, Leo Marvin, and Lacy Daniel; great-granddaughter and namesake Charlotte “Charlie” Randolph; five of his siblings--Robert “Bob”, Glenn, Gladys (Ron), Ann (Larry), and Elsa; and numerous cherished Marvin nieces, nephews, and other extended family members.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Chuck and Beverly Marvin Military Chaplain Scholarship fund by emailing Linda Ragain at lragain@ag.org, or to support Assemblies of God chaplaincy ministries at https://giving.ag.org/donate/700001-583366.

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