Marsha Garner Alstot (Helena, MT), age 77, passed away peacefully on August 6, 2024, due to complications of a stroke following a sudden heart attack a week earlier. Marsha was born August 3, 1947, in Coalinga, California to the late James and Jane Garner. She was raised and educated in Ventura County, California, and married her best friend and love of her life, Gary Warren Alstot, in June of 1967. Marsha and Gary met at Nordhoff High School and were immediately friends; they began dating while attending Ventura College.

Marsha loved people. She loved making new friends and social connections that brought people together. Marsha and Gary embraced travel; Turkey and Indonesia topped their favorite destinations, with Costa Rica a close third. No one was a stranger to Marsha. She was always looking for an occasion to bring people together; gatherings at her and Gary’s long-time family home on the East End of Ojai, long Rincon beach days with her kids and a gaggle of their friends during the long, hot Ojai summer days. When grandchildren arrived, she always prioritized time with them - pool days, adventurous family holidays, their sporting events and music recitals. Marsha was a longtime equestrian, both breeding and showing Hanoverian sporthorses. She was bigger-than-life in many ways - always putting her family and beloved animals first. And you could nearly always find her watching the NFL Sunday Ticket during football season waving her Terrible Towel. Marsha’s bigger-than-life spirit always commanded a room; it’s impossible to not still feel her presence and the love that so many held for her.

For many years, Marsha worked at Community Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Ventura, California as a registered nurse and CCRN. She worked tirelessly in the critical care unit and emergency department. She was also a nurse educator, ultimately retiring after 34 years as director of nursing from CMH’s skilled nursing facility in Ojai, CA. In her capacity as a nurse, nurse educator, and director, Marsha touched innumerable lives. After retirement, Marsha and Gary fulfilled Marsha’s lifelong dream of having a ranch in southwestern Montana.

Marsha is survived by her husband Gary Alstot (Helena, MT), her son Morgan Garner Alstot (Deming, WA), daughter Andrea Sterling (Alstot) (Helena, MT), grandsons Alexander Sterling and Nicholas Sterling (Ojai, CA) and granddaughter Ava Alstot (Deming, WA). She is also survived by her two sisters and their husbands, Susan (Garner) and Dean Bogenreif, Debra (Garner) and Kirk Weaver, and many nieces and nephews, all of Montgomery, TX. All of these she loved and touched deeply.

A Celebration of Life will be held in the Spring of 2025 at the Ojai Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow. Details will be shared closer to the date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to The DAISY Foundation, P.O. Box 2216, Anacortes, WA 98221. The DAISY Foundation awards scholarships to extraordinary nursing educators, students, and leaders. https://www.daisyfoundation.org/.