Life of Rachel’s Ginger Beer founder celebrated in memorial at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall

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SEATTLE — A celebration of life for Rachel Marshall, the founder of Rachel’s Ginger Beer, was held at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall on Friday.

Marshall died unexpectedly in late April at the age of 42. Details later released by her family revealed that her death was linked to complications caused by “chronic ethanolism.”

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

Her family pointed to the lockdown months of 2020 where “she slipped into depression.”

“Drinking went from a social, celebratory ritual to a coping mechanism, and one day alcohol gained the upper hand,” the letter continued. “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.”

Friday’s celebration of life for Marshall was held at 11 a.m.