Marvin E. Mitchell was born in 1946 and graduated from McLish School in Fittstown, OK, in 1964. He earned a bachelor's degree from East Central State College, now East Central University, and was one of the first students to attend college on the State of Oklahoma Indian Scholarship Program administered by Governor Overton James.
Marvin served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard for 33 years and retired as a Master Sergeant. He began his full-time career with the U.S. Department of Labor in 1968, acting as a federal liaison officer to the governor's offices for Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and the state employment security commissions for Oklahoma and New Mexico. He transferred to the Employment Standards Administration in 1981 and retired in 2004 as a federal investigator for the wage and hour division.
Marvin, who also played a vital role in the growth and success of Chickasaw Nation Industries (CNI), served on the board beginning in 1998 and is the last remaining original board member. He is additionally a long-standing servant and example to the community – he is an elder for the Fittstown Church of Christ and was included in Mike Larsen's acclaimed painting series, Elders of the Chickasaw Nation.