North Myrtle Beach sports group left ‘untethered’ after alleged drunk driver kills teammate
Every weekday morning, gym 1 at the J. Bryan Floyd Community Center fills with the sound of pickleballs hitting the ground and lighthearted chatter.
However, on April 7, the gym was quiet as the group coped with the death of beloved member Steve Marshall. Everything stopped when Marshall’s wife, Deb Marshall, walked in.
“She came through that door, everyone dropped their paddles and came over to give her a hug. There was no more pickleball played,” player Bill Wishart said.
Marshall died April 4 after being hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle, The Sun News reported.
Kayla Tisdale, 36, allegedly turned right on to Sea Mountain Highway in Little River and struck the 62-year-old. She was arrested for driving under the influence, fleeing the scene and child endangerment, among other charges. She is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center without bail.
Marshall left behind his wife and two children, Greg and Laura Marshall. The family declined a request to interview.
The group is tight-knit, often referring to themselves as a family. The news of Marshall’s death shocked the community, with many reaching out to each other over the weekend. This included sending messages to snowbirds who played with Marshall in the winter but had returned home.
“There was a lot of crying this weekend. Everybody knew about it very quickly,” Wishart said.
Monday morning, players adorned Marshall’s usual bench spot with flowers, a pickleball with his name written on it and a sign that read, “Rest in peace Steve. You will be missed.”
When asked how the group felt, Deborah Love said, “Discombobulated, like untethered. Just trying to find our footing.”
A retired cop who loved his motorcycle
Marshall retired to Myrtle Beach with his wife about three years ago after working as a police officer for many years. He served on the Bethlehem Police force in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and was the police chief for DeSales University.
Pickleball player Keith Fane said he became close with Marshall because they’re both ex-officers.
“It wasn’t until someday somebody said, ‘Oh, you cops stick together or something,’ and then we had this, like instant bond,” Fane said
The two liked to swap stories about doing undercover narcotics work and investigations — although Fane said Marshall always had more exciting tales since he worked for a larger police force. Marshall also got to be a motorcycle cop, which Fane described as “the cool guys in the police department.”
Other pickleball players remembered Marshall would often ride his red motorcycle to the community center, place his helmet in the bike’s compartment and head in to practice.
“From what I recall, the motorcycle was the best thing that he ever did,” Fane said.
A member of the ‘peanut gallery’
At pickleball practice, players cycle through games, signing up and taking over courts when their turn arises. When not playing, they sit around the gym and chat, sharing life updates, or, more often than not, heckling each other.
Several people referred to Marshall as part of the group’s “peanut gallery.” He was a quieter person, so rather than shouting out encouragements and insults himself, he would give others ideas.
“He sort of egged the peanut gallery on,” Vickie Hamann said.
Besides being friendly on the sidelines, Marshall was known as a great pickleball player. In the last tournament before his death, he earned second place. Hamann also remembers Marshall holding his own in a game against a two guys younger than him.
He began playing pickleball in North Myrtle Beach in 2023. While he started playing the sport on his own, once his wife, Deb Marshall, saw how many friends he made, she also began attending practice, Karen Imielinski said.
In Marshall’s memory, Sandy Barker gathered funds from the group to buy him a tree and put up a plaque on the J. Bryan Floyd Community Center dedication tree.
Marshall’s teammates will remember him for his unique serve, his sportsmanship and the friendly way he moved through life.
“Steve was gonna play with you, whether you were a novice or the best player, he would always play,” Hamann said.
