Edward Marion, NFL referee, insurance consultant

Edward P. Marion, 81, of Coatesville, an insurance consultant and referee who officiated at National Football League games for more than 25 years, died of kidney failure Monday at Paoli Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Marion began refereeing NFL games in 1960 and participated in the 1971, 1975 and 1977 Super Bowls. He served as president and executive director of the National Football Referees Association, and in 1978 negotiated a league-funded pension plan for officials.

That year, on New Year's Day, Mr. Marion made a controversial call against the Oakland Raiders, who were playing the Denver Broncos for the American Football Conference championship. The Broncos won the game and went to the Super Bowl. Mr. Marion gained instant fame - or notoriety. "I got about 50 letters," he told a reporter. "One man said I'd do the world a favor if I never set foot on a football field again."

When a fan asked if he was disturbed, Mr. Marion wrote back that he hadn't lost any sleep over the call and that "there are 200 million Chinese who don't give a damn about that game." He described his game philosophy to the reporter: "You have to have law and order. You have to have respect. But you have to be fair."

He retired as an NFL referee in 1987. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Marion grew up in Harrisburg. During World War II he served in the Navy in the States. After his discharge, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he played junior varsity football. As a freshman, he began officiating at basketball, baseball and football games, including refereeing basketball games at the YMCA in Center City for $1 a game.

After graduating from Penn, he taught history at William Harris High School in Harrisburg and coached football and basketball. He also officiated at high school and college baseball, football and basketball games and boxing matches. He left teaching in the 1950s for a career in the insurance industry, but continued to referee amateur sports before joining the NFL.

He was a pension consultant for Union Mutual Life Insurance Co., then was with Allstate Insurance until retiring in the 1990s.

Mr. Marion enjoyed summers in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and visits to Ireland. He was an avid golfer and a former member of the Coatesville Country Club.

Since 1951, he had been married to Naomi Webster Marion. They had met at Penn, where she was an office worker and he had a part-time job in the cafeteria.

Mr. Marion is also survived by daughters Patricia Milillo, Joanne Marion-Walton, Elizabeth and Cathleen; a son, Christopher; and four grandchildren. A daughter, Cecilia, died in 1979.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church, 99 N. Sixth Ave., Coatesville. Friends may call at 8:30 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.