Biography:

Dr. Marvin Lee Booth was born in Marine City, Michigan on the 12th of December, 1905.  Dr. Booth was the 4th of 7 children born to Bert Booth and the former Jemima “Jane” Ann Doan. His father was an executive with the Dominion Sugar Company and his siblings were; Ethel M. Booth (who died in infancy), Hazel Mae Booth, Mildred Ann Booth, Gertrude Booth, Gordon Birchell Booth and Bruce Ford Booth. During his early childhood, Dr. Booth’s family moved around considerably.  Dr. Booth received education in Eton, Colorado and Morse, Saskatchewan and Cadillac, Saskatchewan. Once the family settled in Wallaceburg in 1909, Dr. Booth attended Wallaceburg High School.  According to the 1921 census, the family resided at 117 Wallace Street (in Wallaceburg).

Dr. Booth graduated M.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1932. He completed his internship at St. Mary’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and in Ontario at the Hamilton General Hospital.

Dr. Booth started his medical practice in Wallaceburg in 1934. Dr. Booth served with the R.C.A.M.C. during World War II from 1940 to 1945. Dr. Booth returned to Wallaceburg after the war with the rank of Major. He was a coroner from 1948-1955 and he was appointed as Chief of Medical Staff at the Sydenham District Hospital in 1957.

Dr. Booth served on the Wallaceburg District High School Board for 7 years. Dr. Booth was a member of the Masonic Lodge and a 32nd degree Mason of the Scottish Rite. He was a member of the Wallaceburg Power Squadron and he was a member of the Wallaceburg Rotary Club.

Dr. Booth married Carmen Lucille Borman on the 20th of October in 1937 in Stratford, Ontario. Mrs. Booth was born in Sebringville on December 17th, 1913.  She was the youngest of 3 children born to Andrew Borman and the former Christiana MacDonald.  Her father was a grain merchant.  Her sister Margaret Mary Florence Borman was born in Sebringville on the 11th of August, 1908 (and drowned on the 22nd of May, 1920 in Chatham at the age of 11) and her brother John Edwin Borman was born in Sebringville on the 22nd of September, 1911.  Her father died in Strathroy on the 22nd of January, 1917.  He was buried at the Strathroy Municipal Cemetery.  According to the 1921 census Mrs. Booth lived at 55 Water Street in Chatham with her mother and her brother John.  Mrs. Booth was a graduate nurse from St Joseph’s School of Nursing, in Chatham.

Dr. Booth served overseas as a Captain in the R.C.A.M.C. during WWII.

Dr. and Mrs. Booth had 3 children; Sondra, Lee and Jane Anne.

Dr. Booth belonged to the Wallaceburg Rotary Club and the Wallaceburg Power Squadron.  He belonged to the Know Presbyterian Church and held many positions over the years within the church.

Dr. Booth was a coroner and he was the Chief of Obstetrics at Sydenham District Hospital in 1956.   He was appointed as the Chief of Staff at the hospital in December of 1958.  Dr. Booth was a recipient of the prestigious Glenn Sawyer Award from the Ontario Medical Association.  This award is presented to a physician who has greatly contributed to their local community and the medical profession.

Dr. Booth’s medical practice was located at 305 Nelson Street in Wallaceburg.  He sold the practice to Dr. Michael A. McElligott in 1974.  Dr. Booth continued to see patients until he retired from the practice of medicine in 1977.

Mrs. Booth died at the Sydenham District Hospital on the 5th of March, 1984. She was buried at the McDonald Cemetery, 406 Lambton Line in Sombra Township.

Dr. Booth married Bernice Madeline (Haley) Tiffin in 1987.  Mrs. Booth was born in 1924, the daughter of Maurice Wilson Haley and the former Madeline Gladys Smith.  She was a nurse, who graduated B.ScN from the University of Western Ontario in 1947.  She was married to Dr. Eldon Tiffin in 1958.  Dr. Tiffin died in 1963.

Dr. Booth died at the Sydenham District Hospital in Wallaceburg on the 24th of August, 1994.  He was buried next to his wife Carmen Lucille Booth at the McDonald Cemetery.  The same cemetery that his parents are buried at.

After the death of Dr. Booth, Bernice Madeline (Haley) (Tiffin) Booth married William Earl Hill some years later.  She died in Tillsonburg in 2002 and was buried at the Springford Cemetery in Oxford County.

*Dr. Booth and his brothers Gordon and Bruce are also featured on the Gathering Our Heroes website.  His brother Bruce Booth served with the Navy.  Dr. Booth’s brother, Flying Officer Gordon Birchell Booth served with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a bomber pilot.  He and his crew were killed in a training exercise on the 16th of June, 1943.  Shortly after take-off the plane caught fire and crashed in Warwickshire England.  He was buried at Southam Cemetery in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.

**Dr. Eldon Tiffin also appears on the Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute website.