Editing Marshall Applewhite (section)

==Early life and education==
Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr. was born in [[Spur, Texas]],{{sfn|Associated Press, March 28, 1997}} on May&nbsp;17, 1931, to Marshall Herff Applewhite Sr. and his wife Louise (née Winfield).<ref>[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=TXbirthindex&gss=angs-d&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn_x=1&gsln=applewhite&gsln_x=1&MSAV=0&uidh=ff5&gl=&gst=&hc=50&fh=50&fsk=BEFpYewIgAAiTQAHYtM-61- Texas Birth Index, online at ancestry.com]</ref> He had three siblings.{{sfnm|Chryssides|2004|1p=355|Steinberg|1997|Harris|1997}} The son of a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister, Applewhite became very religious as a child.{{sfnm|Chryssides|2004|1p=355|Raine|2005|2pp=102–3}}

Applewhite attended [[Roy Miller High School|Corpus Christi High School]] and [[Austin College]];{{sfnm|Davis|2000|1p=244|Steinberg|1997}} at the latter school, he was active in several student organizations and was moderately religious.{{sfn|Steinberg|1997}} He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1952 and subsequently enrolled at [[Union Presbyterian Seminary]] to study [[theology]], hoping to become a minister.{{sfnm|Chryssides|2004|1p=355|Raine|2005|2p=103}} He married Anne Pearce around that time, and they later had two children, Mark and Lane.{{sfnm|Urban|2000|1p=275|Steinberg|1997}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=applewhite&oc=1&p=marshall+herff|title=Family tree of Marshall Herff Applewhite|website=Geneanet|language=en|access-date=2019-01-25}}</ref> Early in his seminary studies, Applewhite decided to leave the school to pursue a career in music, becoming the music director of a Presbyterian church in North Carolina.{{sfnm|Chryssides|2004|1p=355|Steinberg|1997}} He was a [[baritone]] singer and enjoyed [[Spiritual (music)|spirituals]] and the music of [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]].{{sfn|Hall|2000|p=150}}

In 1954, Applewhite was drafted by the [[United States Army]] and served in Austria and New Mexico as a member of the [[United States Army Signal Corps|Army Signal Corps]].{{sfn|Steinberg|1997}} He left the military in 1956 and enrolled at the [[University of Colorado Boulder]], where he earned a master's degree in music{{sfnm|Chryssides|2004|1p=355|Steinberg|1997}} and focused on [[musical theater]].{{sfn|Associated Press, March 28, 1997}}