• Sign up for free email newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Donate to support our work
  • Events calendar
  • About Us
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Douglas Elliman, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Restaurants, sponsored by The Cottage
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools
  • Public Schools, sponsored by Sexton
  • Pre-schools
  • Camps, sponsored by NEOC
  • Kid stuff
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Worship
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • Sports schedules & results
  • Deland, Gibson’s Athlete of the Week
  • Deaths
  • POPS Senior Profiles

Top Stories

July 4th schedule
Hiking Boulder Brook Reservation
Chain link summer in town
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Baum Financial, Wellesley
FIXT

Cappy Birthday! Wellesley’s Captain Keith Marden turns 100

October 13, 2022 by Bob Brown

Has there ever been a better advertisement for making seafood a key part of your diet than Capt. Keith Marden celebrating his 100th birthday today at the Wellesley restaurant bearing his family name? Though on this day, a special birthday cake for the Captain courtesy of Select Board member Beth Sullivan Woods was the food of choice (well, and the chowder and shrimp cocktail also offered to guests).

captain marden 100
Capt. Keith Marden flanked by family

 

Marden, seated next to his wife of 69 years, Shirley, blew out all of the less-than-100 candles, and was serenaded with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Saluting Marden’s years in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War as a submarine periscope specialist, “Anchors Aweigh” also played. Marden was surrounded by family—including all the way from his home province of Nova Scotia—and friends, including town officials and fellow business people.

Everyone piled in for photo opps.

Instagram will load in the frontend.

I had a chance to chat with the Captain and asked him what job he might have done if he hadn’t gone into the seafood business. The longtime Wellesley resident mentioned having attended trade school to train as a machinist. As a member of the media, it warmed my heart to find he had a paper route as a kid.

Ceremony emcee Royall Switzler of the Wellesley Celebrations Committee called Keith Marden his hero for this reason: “He was behind the counter until 2 years ago!” That point was re-emphasized in the proclamation read by Sullivan Woods, which notes he was behind the counter as recently as 2020 “selecting the perfect seafood for his customers.”

In speaking to one of Capt. Marden’s granddaughters, I learned that in fact there is no blood oath within the family to work for the business, now on its fourth generation. It’s true: Some members of the family work in fields ranging from finance to politics and from insurance to education.

But plenty do work for the business, which includes the familiar seafood shop and restaurant on Linden Street, as well as the wholesale business in Westwood.

Captain Marden’s fish market got its start in 1945 in West Newton by Master Mariner Capt. Roy Marden, Keith’s dad. Keith opened a second location on Forest Street in Wellesley in 1959, then in 1972 moved it to the former Linden Street railroad station building and expanded. The Captain’s Takeaway Restaurant, initially a takeout operation, opened in 1975 adjacent to the fish market. The wholesale division operating out of the Wellesley store outgrew that space and moved to Westwood. And then there’s the Cod Squad mobile food truck, which began wheeling around in 2012. In recent years, Capt. Marden’s has agilely navigated the pandemic, as members of the family explained in a 2020 Wellesley Public Media video.

The Marden family has been celebrated in town not just for the signature business, but for contributions to Wellesley, its youth organizations and local charities. Keith Marden was a Little League coach, a local bank director, a longtime Wellesley Club member, and a town assessor. The Wellesley Historical Society recognized Captain Marden and family at its 2015 Spring Celebration.

captain marden 100
Cutting the cake

 

captain marden 100
Shirley Marden checks out a personalized gift for her husband Keith…

 

captain marden 100
Beth Sullivan Woods readies to read proclamation

 

captain marden 100

Meanwhile, at the adjacent seafood market, it was business as usual, though customers broke into smiles when told Capt. Marden was celebrating his 100th birthday next door.

captain marden 100


swellesley ad health

image_print

Filed Under: Business, Neighbors

Comments

  1. Andrea P. Moreton says

    October 17, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    Happy birthday Keith. I grew up with your son Kimmy. I saw you and your wife at the Wellesley country club with my dad Aram Pothier. Your wife Shirley said that she attributes good health to seafood. Blessings. I lived on Standish Rd and Standish circle. Andrea Pothier Moreton.

  2. Judy Gunner says

    October 15, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    Happy Birthday to Captain Marden from the Broggini family. Mom was in the Forest St. store and then Linden Street all the time.. My sister Adrienne Lindquist Lewis uses the store all the time. She would come in with her husband Bill very often until he died in March. If I were ddriving, I’d be there too. Loved eating at the restaurant!b take care, Judy Broggini Gunner

  3. Jim Speros says

    October 13, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    Congrats to Captain Marden on his milestone birthday. Thank you for keeping a wonderful local fish business in our town for all these years. God bless!

Advertisements

     
black & blue, Wellesley
Olive Tree Medical, Wellesley
Brandeis OSHER Lifelong Learning

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep, Wellesley
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Prepped and Polished Boston Tutoring and Test Prep
Human Powered Health, Wellesley
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
Derenzo, Wellesley
  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Subscribe to our free weekday email newsletter

* indicates required

Follow Swellesley on Google News Showcase

The Swellesley Report has been selected to be highlighted on Google News Showcase. Please follow us there.

Most Read Posts

  • Friday is letters to the editor day on The Swellesley Report
  • Wellesley residential property sales for June 2-6, 2025
  • Wellesley government meetings for week of June 30: Select Board & Planning Board retreats
  • Wellesley's Lise Olney & Dr. Robyn Riseberg named Class of '25 Commonwealth Heroines
  • It's another chain link summer in Wellesley

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Recent Comments

  • Joan on Summer in Wellesley—a hike through Boulder Brook Reservation
  • Claire OShea on It’s another chain link summer in Wellesley
  • BB Wood on It’s another chain link summer in Wellesley
  • Deborah Brown on Summer in Wellesley—a hike through Boulder Brook Reservation
  • Deborah Brown on Summer in Wellesley—a hike through Boulder Brook Reservation

Calendar

Upcoming Wellesley events

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Tech-Tamer
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

© 2025 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login