Family of Rachel Marshall shares autopsy details and invites community to celebration of life

The family of Rachel Marshall, the founder of Rachel’s Ginger Beer, is sharing new details about her unexpected death. An autopsy revealed Marshall died from complications caused by chronic ethanolism.

“In other words, she drank too much for too long, and her liver stopped functioning,” said her family in a public letter (posted below).

Her family says she slipped into depression during the COVID-19 lockdown and drinking went from a social ritual to a coping mechanism.

They say she fought it hard and never lost her love for her family, friends, or city.

The family is inviting friends and loved ones to a celebration of life for Marshall. The memorial will be held at Benaroya Hall on Friday, May 19 at 11 a.m.

They ask you to RSVP here.

Dearest Friends,

The family of our loving mother, partner, sister, and daughter Rachel Marshall can now share the details of a public ceremony to be held in her honor. You are invited with open arms to Benaroya Hall on May 19 at 11am for an hourlong celebration of Rachel’s life and legacy. We request that you RSVP here so that we can properly plan for your presence.

In addition, we feel compelled to discuss the findings of the autopsy that we requested, which have been released since the initial announcement of Rachel’s passing. That report clarifies the causes behind this tragedy. Rachel died from hepatic cirrhosis caused by chronic ethanolism. In other words, she drank too much for too long, and her liver stopped functioning.

For many people, perhaps most, this tells them all they need to know, having personally experienced what alcohol can do to a loving, thriving person. But anyone else wondering how it could’ve come to this would need to understand that community was everything for Rachel. She believed it could heal the world, but on a personal level it was her lifeblood.

In the lockdown months of 2020, her community was taken from her, and she slipped into depression. Drinking went from a social, celebratory ritual to a coping mechanism, and one day alcohol gained the upper hand. Covid faded but the drinking didn’t, and this became its own source of depression, and this was the spiral she was caught in when she died. She fought it mightily, never losing her love for her family, friends, or city.

Rachel still mustered the strength to leave the house everyday determined to help someone and bring people together. The cruel irony is that the two months prior were her best in years; it felt like a corner had been turned. But as the struggles of people close to her worsened, she began to dwell on their pain, and she sought out her crutch one more time. It was one time too many.

To know Rachel on any level meant having someone in your life standing at the ready to scoop you up in her arms and shower you with all the love, affirmation and belonging your own heart could hold. She made so many feel like they were the most important people in the world because to her, they absolutely were. This was reflected in all that she did, including the way she mentored, donated, ran her businesses, and participated in city matters. Her life was impossibly busy, but she found a way to show up for all of us, every time. Imagine what the world would look like if we all were like that.

What a treasure she was, how lucky we all were to have had her in our lives, however briefly.

Such a life must be celebrated and celebrate we shall.

Much, much love

The Family of Rachel Marshall

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