HAMILTON, Ont. — As a lasting tribute to their father’s legacy, the Marshall family is making a donation to Mohawk College, supporting its apprenticeship program.

Gerald Marshall was the founder and owner of G. Marshall Transport in East Hamilton from 1970 until his retirement in 2004. He passed away in May 2006 following a courageous battle with cancer.

The family of this leader in the trucking and transportation industry, is donating $1.2 million to the college, the single largest donation ever received by Mohawk College in its 39-year history.

The Gerald Marshall Fund will support the transformation of the Stoney Creek campus into the Mohawk Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Research, Resources and Training (STARRT) Institute and enhance the college’s Truck and Coach Apprenticeship program.

“Our father was a tireless worker who instilled a love of learning in his family,” said Wayne Marshall, co-owner of Marshall Truck and Trailer Repair. “In establishing the Gerald Marshall Fund at Mohawk, we are creating opportunities for students to follow in our fathers footsteps and achieve their own dreams of building successful careers and companies.”

Graduates from the program work throughout the trucking and transportation industry in roles such as truck and coach technicians, mechanics and mechanical repairers, and automotive mechanical installers and servicers.

“We would like to express our deepest appreciation to the Marshall family for establishing this fund in their fathers memory,” said MaryLynn West-Moynes, president of Mohawk. “Gerald Marshall was a leader in his industry and with this remarkable and inspiring memorial gift, Mohawk will have state-of-the-art facilities in which to train more apprentices in support of a trucking and transportation industry that is absolutely essential to economic growth and prosperity.”